Hawk Kawasaki, the official Kawasaki entry into the 2005 Bennetts British Superbike Championship, are delighted with their performance in today's Donington Park test sessions.
Approaching the official test sessions with the goal of fine-tuning the set-up of their Kawasaki ZX-10Rs, Hawk Kawasaki riders Glen Richards and Dean Thomas posted consistent times throughout the day whilst testing new suspension and engine components. Working closely with their technicians each rider used the two hours available on track to build a base setting to work from at the opening round of the championship at Brands Hatch in two weeks time.
Glen Richards, now in his fourth year with Hawk Kawasaki finished the test delighted with the developments made to his machine.
"I'm really pleased with today. We've made so much progress over the winter, the bike is feeling fantastic. Even though it was so cold out there on track I could put in consistent times and I think we've got a real race bike. We started last season with a bike that was basically a Superstock machine, but the boys have worked hard all winter and now we've got a full-on Superbike. I'm feeling fitter than I have for a long time and I just want to get to Brands now and get on with it!"
Team-mate Dean Thomas is also eager to start his first season aboard a Hawk Kawasaki ZX-10R.
"The test was good. I'm pleased that we've learnt a load of things and we haven't risked the bike by going for a lap record. We've been trying some chassis set-ups and various bits in the engines and I'm happy with the bike. We've run in the top five on race tyres whilst still testing parts, so I'm sure we can be up there when the flag drops at Brands."
Team owner Stuart Hicken has used the test to highlight any areas that his team need to work on in the two weeks preceding the first race.
"This has been a really good day for the team and I'm pleased. The technicians have worked flat-out all winter to get our bikes ready and we've made good steps forward. The important thing is that both riders have got a set-up that they can take to Brands, and that they could run consistently quickly throughout the day whilst trying the new parts. We've found one or two areas where we can make improvements ahead of the first race, and that's great. So I'm pleased we came and view this as a very successful test."
