Kawasaki Racing PR:

Local rider Jamie Hacking made the most of his stand-in ride at Miller Motorsports Park in race one, finishing seventh, the highest placing of any Kawasaki rider in a single race this year.

Broc Parkes, who had qualified seventh on the grid, was riding as high as fourth in the aggregated first race before he was forced to retire with electrical problems in the second heat. He clashed with another rider on the first lap of the second race, went right to the back of the field, and had to haul himself up to a fighting 11th place at the flag.

In race two, Hacking ran off track on two occasions after a first lap collision, but kept going to finish 19th.

It was a therefore something of a mixed bag of results for the Kawasaki duo, who wowed the trackside fans with their pace and combativeness on many occasion, but did not get all the full rewards their obvious pace deserved.

Miller was seen as a landmark meting for the team, with strong second row qualifying positions for each rider, and their real world pace proving to be a boost for their prospects at the next round in Misano, on June 21.

In the championship standings Parkes remains 18th, while Hacking went straight in at 20th, despite only finishing one race today.

Broc Parkes: “I was really happy to get through all three Superpole sessions and start from the second row on the grid. I got good starts in both races but in the first race we had a few issues with tyres and then I had to pull out of the race with an electrical problem on the final lap. In race two we changed the tyres but I was hit in the first corner so I was dead last and had to try and claw my way back to a decent position. The bike was the best it’s felt all weekend. Our times showed that we could have easily sustain a position in the top eight so I’m a bit disappointed that the results this weekend didn’t reflect how good the team and the bike have been.”

Jamie Hacking: “I’ve not ridden on Pirelli tyres before and also I had to get used to the electronics but I was really happy to complete all three Superpole sectors and to start on row two next to Broc. I got a decent start in race one and was feeling really good on the bike and in a comfortable fourth place before the red flag came out. But a seventh in the re-start was good. Race two I had an incident on the first corner as I had more entry speed then some of the guys around me, but someone ran into me, so I couldn’t turn in. I had to make my way out of the pack to try and save the bike. Having not raced with these guys I’m unfamiliar how some of them ride so I was really disappointed that this happened. I’d like to have had a solid race result in race two but it wasn’t to be.”