Kawasaki Motors Australia press release:

Kawasaki supported Robbie Bugden maintained a prime championship position of 4th place with his Ninja ZX-10R while Kyle Buckley was the number one rookie superbike rider and Sam Muldoon showed promising improvement with his Ninja ZX-6R in the Supersport class.

BCperformance Kawasaki Racing team’s Robbie Bugden never failed to bid for a podium finish at the Winton Motor Raceway round. Starting in 9th place on the grid due to a challenging qualifying session, Robbie exchanged places relentlessly in the first race & positioned himself in 2nd as he crossed the finish line. The second superbike race saw Robbie held up for most of the session as he tried to pass another rider. Eventually he broke free, however with limited time left he was forced to settle in 5th place, providing him with equal 3rd position overall. Robbie Bugden currently sits in 4th place on the championship leader board, a mere 14 points away from the series leader.

“It wasn’t one of the weekends where it came easy but we worked hard and we got the Ninja ZX-10R pointing in the right direction,” said Robbie.

“Right away we realised it was going to be fairly challenging from the beginning, especially with the soft tyre selection, we struggled to get a fast qualifying lap time but the BCperformance Kawasaki Racing team did a great job and we went faster every time we rode the bike. Once the first race started we lacked a little with the harder tyre in the first half but we were consistent throughout the race and we pulled a few positions to get into 2nd place. I was chasing down the lead but to finish second was a really good result considering how we started.”

“I lost a lot of distance in the early part of race two, getting held up but once I got clear, I could lap as fast as anyone. We made up a few positions and got into 5th but with a couple of more laps I think we could have done better,” commented Robbie.

“To come away with 2nd and 5th was a good result for us and I’m really pleased with the teams bike. Championship wise we are getting closer to the lead so it’s looking like a five horse race and we are definitely in for a shot with the Ninja ZX-10R.”

BCperformance Kawasaki Racing Team’s novice Ninja ZX-10R superbike rider showed tremendous development securing 12th and 9th in races one and two to again claim the fastest rookie title in his first year of competitive 1000cc racing.

“I wasn’t 100% for the weekend because I fell off during training before the round so it took me most of the day to work up the speed,” said Kyle.

On Saturday we made a few adjustments to the bike and I ended up with P12 on the starting grid. In the first race I didn’t use the last half of the race well but I raced full pace in the second race which I was pleased with and I was the top rookie in the last race which is what we have been aiming for all year so I am pretty happy with that and we are in a good frame of mind for the next round.”

“I’ve got an amazing bike and team plus Robbie on my side and he doesn’t keep any secrets when I ask him for some advice which is a huge help as well,” commented the Queenslander.

BCperformance Kawasaki Racing team Manager, Kelvin Reilly said, “We pushed hard during practice and qualifying. Our race pace was very good but we just couldn’t get the bike to work with the soft tyres in qualifying however the riders came through with shining colours during the races. Even though Robbie has dropped to 4th in the championship, he has moved closer to the lead, being only 14 points away and Kyle was the fastest rookie rider again. Even though we wanted to win, we are still happy with the results!” exclaimed Kelvin.

“The Ninja ZX-10R is proving to be formidable given what we are doing at the moment with the minimal development and promising results so far,” commented Kelvin.

Additional Kawasaki supported riders, Matt Walters and Jack Baker experienced some unfortunate bad luck when a crash in the first turn of the first superbike race took both riders out. Jack retired for the day while Matt Walters bounced back and salvaged 16th place finish in the second race.

“It was a bit of a bummer getting caught up in the first race and getting taken out mid-way through the first corner, it was very unexpected and it’s unfortunate but that’s racing so there are no hard feelings. You just have to keep pushing on and looking for the positives.”

“In the second race we couldn’t come up with the pace we needed to be with the group in front of me. It wasn’t for lack of trying however we are going to keep fighting through it and head to Darwin where I’ve had a bit of success and try and bounce back from what was probably the worst meeting of my career.”

“Nothing is broken so we will push on and go to Darwin, I’m confident going there so I’m really looking forward to getting back up there and hopefully we will have the right setup that will do the job when we get there,” commented the Kawasaki Connection Ninja ZX-10R rider.

Ninja ZX-6R supersport pilot, Sam Muldoon progressed remarkably throughout the weekend, tucking away 5th and 4th places in races one and two respectively at a circuit where he had only raced once before.

“After some tinkering with the bike and adjusting my riding style to suit the track I pulled 6th place in qualifying which was a good start,” said Sam.

“I went out in race one and ran my own race. I got a good start, the bike felt good and it was still a new setup for me so I wasn’t quite comfortable hitting the corners hard. I wanted to cross the line upright and I made sure I was consistent and safe. I was running in 3rd up until the 8th or 9th lap and a couple of guys got past me so I settled with 5th in that race.

“My lap times improved with every session. In the last race I ran another consistent race. I had a little battle with another rider and couldn’t get past him early enough to contest for the top 3 but once I got past him, the guys in front didn’t get away too much so that gave me confidence.”

“Looking forward to Darwin now and it should be a level playing field. I just need to work hard to be prepared for that. It should be interesting,” said Sam.

Kawasaki supported riders now begin to prepare for the 4th round of the series to be held at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin on July 7th and 9th.

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