Before the event, the team and the famous No11 Ninja were logically focusing on a podium.
In fact, during the qualifying session which ended on Friday, Randy de Puniet, Julien Da Costa and Jérémy Guarnoni were not able to express themselves completely on the tarmac of the Slovakia Ring. Lacking enough tyres due to championship regulations they still qualified their Ninja ZX-10RR in 5th position.
At 12:30 P.M. the race started in hot sunshine and sweltering heat which asked a lot of the bike and especially the tyres.
Randy de Puniet rode in the head of the race. Attack after attack, the experienced French rider led the race until he crashed while in second position, sliding the front of the Ninja ZX-10RR.
"I recognise my error; having said that, I had a lack of feeling on the overheated track and my intention wasn’t to allow the leaders to escape so I was forced to stay in contact. I apologise to all the team and particularly to my team-mates ".
Restarting in 17th position, the Kawasaki SRC Team climbed to 5th position within 5 laps of the race leader. Even though the safety car appeared on track at 5 P.M Julien da Costa wasn’t able to exploit the advantage.
Then, at 5:30 P.M. a new concern, Jeremy Guarnoni returned to the garage with the engine silent and fuel tank empty due to the ambient heat and increased consumption. Again Ninja No11 rejoined the race and again in 17th position finally crossing the finishing line in 9th position.
Jérémy Guarnoni : “When we crashed at the beginning of the race and even without this mistake, we were not able to win in our regular way. It is now necessary for us to progress and look for victory again. Personally, I felt good on the bike. I’m looking forward Oschersleben in June to prove our speed in the long term”.