The Motul Kawasaki Team and Dan Kruger finished off a great season with a double podium and a solid performance in the blistering heat. Kruger also signed with Kawasaki again for 2020 to pilot the 2020 Kawasaki ZX10RR keeping Motul on as the team’s title sponsor. “I am really happy how the weekend went and also confirming our plans for 2020. This is the earliest we have ever had everything locked in for the next season and it feels great.” Dan also did daily fan appreciation events at the Motul booth and it was busier than ever.
The team worked through some electronics issues during a pre-race test earlier in the week as well as some ongoing front end chatter issues that have been haunting the team in the latter part of the season.
Race 1: Having Qualified in 4th, Kruger started on the 2nd row and mid-race started suffering front-end chatter gremlins that got progressively worse as the race went on. The Track Temperature was over 50c and the team feels tyre pressure was the main culprit as other teams were facing similar issues.
Race 2: The team made a lot of changes since we had already locked in 2nd for the Championship so we took a few chances including gearing, tyre pressure and rear suspension. We also used the super-soft SCX tyre we usually only use for qualifying for the race. The changes helped and we found a half second per lap but it was not enough to charge for the win. We finished 3rd but sorted out the chatter and are now prepared for the December Endurance Race in China as we defend our 6 year winning streak for this event.
The year-end Prize-giving Ceremony took place as well this past weekend were the team received 2nd overall in the Championship. It was the best season in terms of overall pace and the first season in years with no major injuries to report. “Getting the arm pump surgery before the start of the season was the best thing I could have done and it made riding more enjoyable and a heck of a lot easier” Kruger stated.
We will start preparing immediately for the 2020 season with a hectic training schedule and Dan will also race at the EWC Round at Sepang in Malaysia in December and is planning on doing a few Rounds in 2020 with the Penz 13 BMW Team in Europe including the Imatra, Finland IRRC Round on the “Roads”.
The team would like to thank all of our sponsors for another season of support including Titanic Kawasaki, Motul, Hindle, Zero Gravity, Tech Spec, RK, Mototron, Brembo, BG Pirelli, EBC, X-lite, Dainese, MF Jebsen, RS Itoh, Japan Planning, Mr. Pizza, Fenice, and Nature Power.
Discussion about this post