From a press release issued Kawasaki Racing Team:

HIGH WINDS CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR FUCHS KAWASAKI AT PHILLIP ISLAND

High winds across the whole of Phillip Island made conditions especially difficult for Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano as the two Fuchs Kawasaki riders started their second day of testing at the Australian circuit.

With a lack of rear grip causing problems yesterday, Hofmann was hoping to get his test back on schedule today. Ignoring the wind that made it difficult to hold a line around the more exposed sections of the circuit, the 23-year-old German rider spent the morning working on the rear set up of his Ninja ZX-RR. The work continued in the afternoon until an excursion through the gravel forced him to switch to his number two bike for the rest of the day.

After finding a chassis set up that worked well around the Phillip Island circuit this morning, Nakano was forced to cut short his planned tyre test this afternoon while mechanics made some modifications to the engine in his number one bike. Returning to the circuit on his spare machine, the 26-year-old Japanese rider spent the afternoon familiarising himself with the clutch on his Ninja ZX-RR by practicing his racing starts.

The Fuchs Kawasaki Racing Team return to Phillip Island tomorrow for the penultimate day of testing, during which Nakano and Hofmann will concentrate on evaluating tyres in conjunction with Bridgestone.

Alex Hofmann: 1:32.92 (66 laps)
“The wind, which is a lot stronger today than it was yesterday, has caused us a few problems. It gets under the bike all around the circuit, which makes it difficult to stay on line, but where it’s losing us the most time is on the start finish straight. Out of the last turn and onto the main straight you’re riding into a headwind, which means I was a lot slower through this section of the track today than yesterday. We also suffered a minor mechanical problem today, which resulted in me running wide and having to lay the bike down in the gravel trap to avoid hitting the barrier on the outside of the turn. There was no damage to myself or the bike, but it meant that we were limited to testing with the older bike for most of the afternoon. Even so, I still managed to lap consistently below my lap time from yesterday, so I’m happy enough with our progress today. If tomorrow brings calmer conditions then I’m confident that we can continue to improve both the bike and the lap times.”

Shinya Nakano: 1:32.94 (61 laps)
“This morning we continued to work on fine tuning the chassis, eventually finding a set up that seems to work quite well around this circuit. This afternoon we were hoping to continue tyre testing, but the wind made holding a line very difficult at some corners and then I had to switch to my second bike while my mechanics worked on my number one machine. Instead, I took the opportunity to try some practice starts, as the Kawasaki clutch is very different to what I’m used to. The results were a little disappointing, but the fact that I was able to talk directly to the person who designed the clutch means that I’m confident that we’ll see an improvement in this area in time for our first European test. As long as the wind drops overnight then we’ll spend tomorrow tyre testing for Bridgestone.”