Hacking Gets Into The Groove With Kawasaki

[totalmotorcycle]

Hacking Gets Into The Groove With Kawasaki veteran switches team for '07
Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - by evan williams - Superbike Planet - superbikeplanet.com




Defending Supersport and Superstock champion Jamie Hacking rode for Kawasaki on Monday at Daytona International Speedway. It's really the first time Hacking had a chance to ride the green machines in anger.

"We had a three day test planned at Barber ... we pretty much got rained out," said Hacking of his first test with Kawasaki. "Two days of solid rain."

Hacking got about 20 laps on the 600 and 15 on the Superbike, one that wasn't yet fitted with controls tailored for him. "It was a shakedown deal, just to get acquainted with the bike and the team. (The Superbike) was plenty fast enough. It's been a while since I've been on a Superbike," said Hacking, who won at Road Atlanta in 2001 in the Superbike class. "We'll have some different settings for this test."

For Hacking, the move to Kawasaki is about building up his program after years at successful Yamaha. "We've got a whole brand new team starting from scratch. It's a big challenge. I need to stay even more focused than I was last year. It's a whole different motorcycle for me and my mechanics. They were working on an Italian bike last year. Our suspension guy is from the Tech 3 MotoGP team," said hacking, 35. "It's going to be a big challenge for everybody and it's not going to happen overnight. But we're up for the challenge."

Jamie said his initial impressions of the ZX-6R were that it is a really stable Supersport bike.

So how does he think he'll fare this season? "My goal is to back my title up on the 600. From what little time I have on it, it's obvious the bike is very good. The settings are nowhere near perfect year and the bike is already unbelievable. It's something I think I can handle, but it will be a good challenge. Superbike, if I can come out in the top three this year, we'll be happy," said Hacking, adding that the title in that class is a future goal.