Home Motorcycle Racing News Antonio Banderas Moto2: Australia Report
Antonio Banderas Moto2: Australia Report
Phillip Island MotoGP
The 2010 Moto2 year has been a season of highs and lows for Kenny Noyes and his Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas team, and this weekend's Australian Moto2 round had plenty of both. Heading to Phillip Island was yet another adventure for Kenny, and the American immediately fell in love with the layout, the location and the people.
The weather, however, was a lot less agreeable, with strong winds and rain lashing the Phillip Island circuit for much of the motorcycle racing weekend, with the start of Moto2 practice delayed due to flooding on the track.
As beautiful as the layout of the circuit is, it is the polar opposite of the kind of track that Kenny's Promoharris Moto2 motorcycle excels at. With lots of bumpy, fast corners, Kenny and the Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas team were struggling with front end grip issues, a problem exacerbated by the extreme winds that blow in off the Bass Strait, which the Phillip Island track sits beside.
Despite making his usual huge steps in each Moto2 session, setting his fastest lap of the weekend during the race, nearly 3.5 seconds quicker than the time he set on Friday, Kenny struggled during both qualifying and the motorcycle race, unable to get anywhere near the points; Noyes finished 31st on Sunday.
Kenny leaves Phillip Island taking plenty of positives from the Moto2 weekend, however. With another race under his belt, Kenny takes yet more lessons and motorcycle experience forward for the future. As the 2010 season winds down, with two more races in Estoril, Portugal and Valencia, Spain, Kenny is starting to look towards next season, and exploiting what he has learned in his rookie year in Moto2 motorcycle racing.
Kenny Noyes says: "The track is awesome! I love the Island, I love the track, I love Australia. It's such a spectacular place. It's just a shame the track was such a nightmare for our bike."
"We got a real good start, my best start of the year, but we were losing too much in the corners. With so many fast, bumpy corners and all that wind, we were really getting thrown around out there, and we just couldn't fix the front end problems we had. This was a tough weekend for us, the toughest weekend of the year, for sure."
"This has been really valuable as a learning year. I'm really looking forward to next year. We'll be back and we'll be in much better shape, we'll know the tracks and be better prepared."
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