Pitched against seasoned enthusiasts who ride week in, week out, Kawasaki Business Operations Manager, Craig Watson, removed the mirrors and passenger grab rail of his totally standard production ZZR1400 and took to the former RAF runway to experience the sport of Sprinting for the very first time.

“I’ve taken part in trials and done some track days in the past but I’d never tried anything like this before”, commented 39 year old Watson.

“The ZZR1400 had such good press reviews at its launch in Nardo, Italy that I thought “I’ll have some of that” and entered my local round of the Straightliners series to see what a standard street bike could do in the hands of a sprinting virgin”.

Opening his account with a run over the timed quarter mile track of just over ten seconds, Watson concentrated on refining his launch technique and gear changes to get the best out of the 200 horsepower sports tourer.

“The thing is to get your launch right with just the right amount of traction and the right technique in the first 200 yards or so, once I had that conquered the rest just sort of followed”, explained Watson.

“I was amazed as anyone else when I broke into the sub ten second zone for the measured quarter mile but it was no fluke, as soon as I got the hang of it I posted a whole series of nine second times culminating in a 9.94 second pass with a 145mph terminal speed.

In qualifying you could be lined up next to anything from a scooter to a large capacity mega power bike, but in the finals it was like against like. With the weather rapidly deteriorating, the decision was made to award points on qualifying times and I won the Streetbike unlimited class and even have a modest silver cup to show for it!”

For Watson, the real reward comes in finding out, first hand, how well the ZZR1400 performed in a number of ways.

“For the sort of experienced rider that will buy this bike it delivers in so many areas. It’s docile, handles amazingly from walking pace all the way to the end of its considerable performance capabilities and does it all with no fuss, no complaint and no hassle. Even after numerous burn outs even the rear tyre was in good condition I had no mechanical issues all day despite doing eighteen very hard and demanding quarter mile runs. What a great day and what a great bike!”

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