Kawasaki close the gap

Factory Kawasaki rider Randy de Puniet reckons the Japanese factory’s new ZX-RR 800 will be competitive from the first race of the new MotoGP world championship.
The French rider says the gap between his new ZX-RR four-cylinder machine is not as big as last season with the old generation 990cc machines, and having run with every other bike in winter testing.
De Puniet said: “I can see the potential of the other bikes. Suzuki is fast and Ducati is fast but very aggressive while Yamaha seems to have one of the best bikes. Kawasaki is close to the best bikes and this is good because Kawasaki has closed the gap a lot and this is good.”
Even though Kawasaki started much later than its rivals, de Puniet said the first roll out of the new bike in November proved the ZX-RR could be closer to the front in 2007.
“In November the bike was new and now the bike is 90% with very good potential. The bike can improve and me too and this is good. We have a good base but I think we can improve the bike and this is important for the future. There is no big problem with the bike.”