05 Apr 2006
A DIFFICULT JOURNEY!
Kawasaki Data Technician, Gerold 'Hugo' Bucher, had a difficult journey to the Middle East for this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.
The German electronics expert was on the way to the airport to catch his flight to Qatar when the turbo on his Audi RS4 failed, leaving Bucher stranded at the side of the Autobahn.
Audi came to the rescue with a courtesy car, in the form of a brand new A8, in which Bucher resumed his journey to the airport, but the bad luck was to continue.
Just short of the airport Bucher was involved in a collision when a white van switched lanes right in front of him, leaving him no where to go but into the back of the vehicle ahead. After another lengthy delay, Bucher was forced to continue his journey to the airport in a taxi, eventually arriving in Qatar a day later than originally planned.
'It was a day of bad luck,' said Bucher. 'First my own car has what is sure to be an expensive problem with the turbo, and then I crashed in the courtesy car through no fault of my own. They say that these things happen in threes, so I thought the safest option was to let someone else drive and continue my journey by taxi!'
http://www.kawasaki-eckl.com/press/i...n=press&id=379
Nakano's Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, arrives in Qatar aiming to finish in Saturday's 22-lap race, after being forced to retire from the opening race of the season due to an injury sustained when he highsided his Ninja ZX-RR during morning warm up at Jerez. Despite treatment to the injury at home in France, de Puniet has not yet recovered full strength in his hand, but is confident that it will not prove a handicap this weekend.
Shinya Nakano:
"Because we are racing here earlier than last year, the conditions are definitely a little bit cooler, and that should benefit everyone. I like this track and we arrive in Qatar well prepared for the weekend. We have the data from Olivier Jacque's two tests here earlier in the year, and we have already tested potential race tyres for this circuit during our post race test in Jerez. Tyres are critical here, and I think our Bridgestone tyres may offer something of an advantage this weekend. This is also a good circuit for our Ninja ZX-RR, as you need a bike that handles well. For sure the straight is long, but we've had good speed here in the past, so I don't think it will be an issue. I feel confident that we can end up with a strong finish in Saturday's race."
Randy de Puniet:
"For me, the most important thing this weekend is to finish the race. I like this track; it's very technical and I think that this suits the characteristics of the Ninja ZX-RR. I'm looking forward to the weekend ahead, and I hope that we can carry on the momentum we had before my crash during morning warm-up at Jerez. While the hand I injured in the crash has not recovered completely, it is a lot better now. I guess I won't know how much better until I get on the bike tomorrow, but I'm confident it won't cause me any problems this weekend."
http://www.kawasaki-eckl.com/press/i...n=press&id=380
GP du Qatar ça commence mal pour Kawa ! -
05/04/2006, 12h19
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