Kawasaki Superbike Team China

Straight off a flight from The Isle of Man and back on his Kawasaki ZX-10R Superbike in China, Dan Kruger was back to short circuit racing this past weekend. It was typical summer weather in Zhuhai, a mix of rain and sun, and very hot and humid. This would be the first time Kruger would ride his 2014 Kawasaki ZX-10R.

A two-day test would lead immediately into qualifying and back-to-back races. The Monday following the race weekend was also an official test where the team would be trying K-Tech suspension for the first time. Ken Summerton is the Technical Director from K-Tech in the UK, and Kelvin Reilly is the Australian K-Tech distributor, and both would be on hand for the Monday test to assist in getting all the settings right.

“It was nice getting back to China and into my comfort zone,” said Kruger after the weekend. “The last six weeks have been intense with the North West 200, the Isle of Man TT, and losing my teammate, Simon Andrews. I love being in the heat so the weather here helped me unthaw from the crazy weather in Europe we had.”

Kruger topped practice and went on to qualify third. Race 1 would see Australian Superbike regular Benjamin Burke take the win over Yes Yamaha rider Huang Shi-Zhao. Kruger was never really in contention for the win and settled in for a steady third and yet another podium. The second race was a much better fight. Kruger’s new launch control was working great and the three riders swapped the lead and kept in close proximity for the first half of the race. On the last lap, Zhao and Ben came together and Zhao crashed out, giving Ben top honour and Krugera not too distant second. Kruger was later penalized 30 seconds for a jump start, which dropped him down to third, but with Zhao crashing out, Kruger was back in the Championship hunt.

Dan and the team would like to thanks all their sponsors including Titanic Kawasaki, Motul, Pirelli, Hindle, Vemar, Spidi, RK, Moto-tron, SBS, Penz13.com, Team JP/Dogfight, UPG, OZ, and Nature Power