More frustration for Kawasaki at fifth round

Despite a strong start to today´s Alice Grand Prix de France at Le Mans, Kawasaki´s John Hopkins saw any chance of a top five finish disappear just after the halfway point in the race, when the chain on his Ninja ZX-RR snapped without warning.

With Hopkins out of the race, it was left to Anthony West to carry the flag for Kawasaki, and his dogged determination saw him eventually finish in 14th position, for which he was at least rewarded with two championship points.

Anthony West - 14th

`I am not happy at all. This weekend has been a struggle, because we´ve had the same rear traction problems that we´ve experienced at every track since the start of the season. But then, in the race, the rear grip was non-existent; the bike was spinning up if I even thought about opening the throttle. Now I want to know what the problem was, and I want to be sure that we don´t have the same problem again.´

John Hopkins - DNF

`After practice and qualifying I really thought we could come away from Le Mans with a good result, which makes today even more frustrating. I got a pretty good start, and was then able to make up places by passing on the brakes, but there are still a number of areas where we´re losing out, on acceleration out of the turns for example, and this makes it difficult to make a pass stick. It´s no fun holding off someone like Jorge Lorenzo for a whole lap, only to see him motor past you as soon as you get onto the straight. We need to work on these areas, starting with tomorrow´s test, and we need to make some improvements if we´re to increase our competitiveness. As for the chain, I guess that was just bad luck.´