From a press release issued by Fuchs Kawasaki:

WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 11 – OSCHERSLEBEN, GERMANY
31ST AUGUST 2002 – SATURDAY QUALIFYING AND SUPERPOLE

WALKER ON THE PACE AS INJURIES SIDELINE TEAMMATES

With Eric Bostrom and Hitoyasu Izutsu both sidelined by injury, it was left to Chris Walker to fly the Fuchs Kawasaki flag alone in this afternoon’s Superpole shootout at Oschersleben. The 30-year-old British rider acquitted himself well, finishing tenth fastest to secure a third row start for tomorrow’s two, 28-lap Superbike races.

‘I had a few problems with chatter during free practice this afternoon, which meant I was lapping a second slower than in qualifying this morning for a while,’ said Walker. ‘We got the problem sorted for Superpole, but then I had to try and get myself back up to speed on the warm-up lap. I didn’t quite manage it and I’m a bit disappointed about that, because the bike has been working real well around this circuit and I thought we were in with a real chance of getting onto the second row today. Oschersleben is a real tight circuit, with few overtaking opportunities, so I’ll definitely be looking for a good start tomorrow.’

Problems with the wrist he injured at Sugo meant that Hitoyasu Izutsu was unable to finish higher than eighteenth in this morning’s final regular qualifying session. Obviously in some pain from the old injury, Izutsu opted to sit out this afternoon’s free practice session and rest the wrist, ready for tomorrow’s two races.

‘Oschersleben is very technical, very tight and very twisty, with no opportunity to relax,’ explained Izutsu. ‘This means that I have to work the injured wrist very hard all the time and it gets more painful the more laps I do. Despite the problems, I’m determined to race and I just hope that resting the wrist, as well as some treatment from the team physiotherapist, will improve things for tomorrow.’

Another Kawasaki rider in the wars this weekend is Eric Bostrom. Already suffering with injuries sustained in a boating accident during the summer break, the 26-year-old Californian crashed heavily during morning qualifying and ruled himself out of this weekend’s event with a fractured left scaphoid.

‘I honestly don’t know what caused the crash,’ said a disappointed Bostrom. ‘I tipped into the corner the same way I had done on previous laps and it felt like the rear just let go. I’m real disappointed, because I think I could have gone well here this weekend. I was running in the 27s on race rubber, which was as good as any of the other Dunlop runners, and I was really looking forward to the race. According to the doctors, I’ve only sustained a small fracture to the scaphoid, and it should be as good as new in a few weeks, but this definitely isn’t the way I wanted to end my season.’