Magny Cours Next Target For Kawasaki’s WSBK Competitors After some recent highs for the official Kawasaki WSBK racing project Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz will arrive in France knowing that more strong finishes are up for grabs as the 2011 season winds down. Sykes came within a whisker of a podium place at Imola last weekend and was also unlucky to have to pull out of race two. Lascorz also showed good pace at times in the two Imola races but his qualifying position outside the Superpole 16 ensured he would not be able to mix it with the leading riders at a circuit it was difficult to pass on. After a win at the Nürburgring for Sykes, and with top five performances having been put in by both Tom and Joan this year, podiums are the aim in each of the 23-lap races in France on Sunday October 2. In the championship rankings, Tom is currently 12th and Joan 13th, with only two points separating them. Magny Cours is a very different challenge when compared to the undulating parkland layout of Imola. The French circuit, 4.411km in length, is a regular stop on the WSBK calendar but the spectators will not see Kawasaki World Superbike rider Chris Vermeulen in competition this time around. He now hopes to be fully ready to race at the final round of the year, in Portugal, on October 16. Roberto Rolfo and Mark Aitchison (Kawasaki Pedercini Team) are also only separated from each other by a small margin in the championship rankings, with ‘Roby’ 18th on 39 points and rookie ‘Atcho’ only one place and three points behind. Tom Sykes: “Now we have proved we can go well in the wet and we are getting there in the dry, so I am quite happy to go forward to France and pick up where we left off – which is consistently in the top four or five. That is my aim, to be in there in all practices, Superpole and the races. Getting Superpole right at Imola certainly helped us in the races. There is a bit of a difference between Imola and Magny Cours, and there is quite a contrast between the corners in France. The middle sector is not great for a Superbike but it is not a circuit I dislike at all. I am building on our positives and looking forward to this round.” Joan Lascorz: “Our race pace can be good and it was again at Imola. We can look to that as a positive from last weekend. I hope for better in qualifying so that I can get away with the faster riders. I arrived back home with a desire to leave almost immediately for Magny Cours. I am now just counting the days to the next race. I hope that before the end of the season I can get one really good result. “ More, from another press release issued by Kawasaki: Salom and Parkes To Shoot For Podiums In France David Salom and Broc Parkes will be going all out for more podium success at the penultimate round of the year this weekend at Magny Cours, with Salom still theoretically capable of being champion. The arithmetic is working against David as he would have to take two wins and see championship leader Chaz Davies score only one point or less in the final two races for the Kawasaki man to take the crown. Only David and current second place rider Fabien Foret can now overhaul Imola no-scorer Davies, with Foret 35 points behind the lead. Salom is third placed with 120 points, and with two podiums to his credit. Wins in the remaining two rounds will now be the clear goal for Mallorcan rider Salom to shoot for. David’s Provec Motocard.com teammate Broc has had more podium success than Salom so far, with one win at Misano included in his four podium tally, but bad luck in a couple of races has held him back at key times and he is fourth overall, three points behind his Spanish team-mate. The Lorenzini by Leoni Kawasaki team have been finding improvements as the season has gone on and Massimo Roccoli and Vittorio Iannuzzo are now feeling the benefit. Roccoli is still inside the top ten despite a no-finish at Imola, with Iannuzzo’s excellent seventh place last time out taking him up one place to 14th, with two rounds remaining. David Salom: “We had some issues on raceday at Imola but our lap times were good near the end. I think Magny Cours can be very good for Kawasaki and for me. Imola is a good circuit also but we had a few issues, Magny is always a good circuit or me; I like it and the bike should go well there. It possible to win and it is the only thing missing this year for me. I think both Broc and I can aim for the win and get two Kawasakis on the podium.” Broc Parkes: “Getting a podium was a good result for us in Italy last week because it wasn’t that easy in the race. For the next round the circuit is very different from Imola. I found Magny Cours good to me in 2010 and it is one of my favourite tracks. I rode the Kawasaki there last year and the bike worked well. Hopefully the weather will be good because you never know what you will get there this time of year. I think we need to concentrate on the bike set-up with a full fuel tank for this race.”