Nakano, Jacque face 1000 fans.

More than 1000 Kawasaki fans greeted Shinya Nakano and Olivier Jacque when the two riders arrived to officially open the new Best Way Kawasaki shop in Le Mans this morning (Thursday).

The shop, which opened its doors just two-days ago, is a purpose built facility offering the complete range of Kawasaki motorcycles, accessories and Kawasaki Racing Team merchandise.

After posing for photographs on a number of ZX-10R road bikes painted as exact replicas of the Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP machines they'll race this weekend at Le Mans, Nakano and Jacque then sat down for a marathon autograph session.

"The turn out was incredible; I couldn't believe how many people were there on a Thursday morning," commented Nakano. "The new shop is impressive. It was interesting to see so many Kawasaki motorcycles in one place and the number of people who turned up on race replica ZX-10R road bikes was fantastic. It was great to meet so many fellow Kawasaki riders ahead of this weekend's race, and I hope they'll all be in the stands cheering for us on Sunday."

"To meet the fans in such a relaxed atmosphere was a good experience, and it's great to know that we have such strong support from our fellow Kawasaki riders," added home hero Jacque. "There were so many people there that I just hope we managed to sign autographs for everyone. Hopefully we'll see some of the Kawasaki flags we signed being waved from the stands on Sunday."

To mark their visit, the staff at Best Way Kawasaki surprised the pair as they prepared to return to the circuit by presenting them with two race replica pocket bikes; one number 56 machine and one number 19 bike.

"A big thanks to Best Way Kawasaki, not just for the pocket bikes they very kindly presented us with, but also for allowing us to meet the fans at such a well organised event. I look forward to returning next year," said Nakano.

Nakano and Jacque will get another chance to meet French Kawasaki fans at seven o'clock this evening, when they take part in an autograph session at the Place de la R?publique in the centre of Le Mans.