05 Mar KAWASAKI SSP AT GP PHILLIP ISLAND
Kawasaki SPP team report at the Phillip Island GP
Kawasaki WorldSSP Team riders Jeremy Alcoba and Dominique Aegerter took part in their first FIM Supersport World Championship race of the new season at the legendary Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, on Saturday 21 February.
Riding the latest WorldSSP spec Ninja ZX-6R 636, Alcoba had started the race from the sixth row of the grid, after he had been 19th quickest in Friday’s Superpole Qualifying session.
The Spanish rider, already a proven podium finisher during his rookie campaign for Kawasaki in 2025, moved upwards through the field in what was an 18-lap start-to-finish contest, with no mandatory pit stops for tyre changes. Jeremy’s tenth place earned him six valuable points at the first time of asking.
A double WorldSPP Champion of past seasons, Dominique had qualified 23rd,and would end up in that same position at the end of the 18-lap race. A technical issue at the end dropped him from 14th on the penultimate lap to 23rd at the end.
The second 18-lap WorldSBK Race of the PI weekend will take place on Sunday 22 February.
Manuel Puccetti
“The practices and qualifying were difficult, but we were able to finish top ten in Race 1 with Alcoba, while Aegerter was stopped by a technical problem at the very last corner, which denied him a points finish. Our potential is definitely higher, but we’re consistently improving and will soon reach the goals we’ve set ourselves.”
Jeremy Alcoba
“We have the first race of the season in our pocket. It is not what I expected from the pre-season tests and it is not the kind of speed we finished with last season, so there is simply still a lot of work to do. But we are looking forward and the team is doing a really good job. We were struggling a bit in the race with rear grip. My start was good but in the first corner I had a little touch and that made me lose a lot of positions. To recover them was hard, but I was fighting in the second and third group. I tried to maintain my P1 position at the end, which is not bad, but not enough. I will try to make a better start in Race Two and with a little bit more grip we can make one or two steps forward.”
Dominique Aegerter
“That was for sure not the race we expected, but we got a lot of data. We made it to all 18 laps but we got a little bit unlucky in the last corner, when the bike turned off. We need to find out what happened, exactly, but we are improving every time and we are closer to the front guys with the lap times. We are missing some testing kilometres on the bike so we just need to ride and ride to improve. We are not so far but the results don’t show that so well. On Sunday, we will have another chance and for sure in the second race I will try to get a good result and my first points with Kawasaki.”
The new-look Kawasaki WorldSSP Team found a wet track and uncertain weather prospects to deal with as Jeremy Alcoba and Dominique Aegerter lined up for the second 18-lap race of the weekend at Phillip Island.
With a damp track underneath and dark skies above, Alcoba opted to run a wet tyre and set-up combination, while Aegerter was one of the few who preferred to go with slick tyres, hoping that the track conditions would not deteriorate.
As it transpired, those who went for a dry set-up had the best of the 18-lap race, as most riders on a wet set-up pitted to change tyres at some stage.
Most riders opted for rain tyres at the start of the race, and many changed to another solution after just a few laps. Alcoba was one of those who changed tyres, and he would end up in ninth place on his Ninja ZX-6R 636, despite being given a time penalty and dropping one finishing position because he left pit lane just a fraction of a second early.
Aegerter was inside the top race rankings on his dry tyre option, and was on course for a top four finish until his bike experienced a technical issue on the penultimate lap. Aegerter was unable to finish the race.
After the first round, Alcoba is overall tenth in the championship, with 13 points, while Aegerter is yet to score.
The next round will take place in Portimao, Portugal, between 27-29 March.
Manuel Puccetti
“Luck was not on our side today. Aegerter made the right tyre choice, opting for slicks, and was running a great race that saw him battling for the podium. But he was unfortunately stopped by a technical problem two laps from the end. Alcoba, who instead went with rain tyres, made a pit stop and finished a very positive P9 considering the difficulties of the race.”
Jeremy Alcoba
“Not the results that we expected after the pre-season, but I think we started well and took some important points. It is a long season. On Sunday the race was strange because of the weather. Our strategy was like for 90% of the riders, and we put in wet tyres. The skies looked like they were getting darker, so we couldn’t tell if it would be more wet or dry. Some riders took the risk to put in slick tyres, and they made a good choice. We took the risk the other way, but we did like almost all the others. I was fifth or sixth in the race, and feeling quite well, but I went into the box for tyres one lap late. The team did a really good job changing the tyres, but I was a fraction of a second early passing the exit line, so I was penalised by one tenth and lost one position in the final results. I am disappointed for this, but happy for the result.”
Dominique Aegerter
“We were quite unlucky this weekend. In Race Two, with the team, we made a great decision to start with slick tyres. Of course, it is always a 50/50 chance, and there were always some small drops of rain. I think five or six riders decided to go out with slick tyres. I was running in fourth place but one lap from the end we had a technical problem. It is frustrating not to get any points out of our first weekend here in Australia, but this is racing and these things can happen. We need to keep thinking and stay strong together. We need to believe in ourselves so we can still have a great season together.”