Kawasaki 'smiling and crying'.

With two of the three Kawasaki riders having been taken out in a first turn clash, Shinya Nakano went on to uphold team green honour with a fighting sixth position in Sunday's German Grand Prix at Sachsenring.

Nakano was in top form in the crash-delayed race, which was stopped after six laps and then restarted over a reduced distance of 25 laps. Riding his Ninja ZX-RR fitted with the latest dual-compound Bridgestone tyres, he made a fast start and challenged the top group throughout the race.

The Japanese was the first Bridgestone rider to finish and beat two Hondas, three Yamahas and the top Ducati and Suzuki as he crossed the line just 4.5s seconds behind race winner Valentino Rossi, having closed the gap to fifth placed Alex Barros and fourth at the flag Max Biaggi to just over one-second in the closing stages.

"That was an exciting race for me, it makes such a big difference when you see the top group and can race close to them," smiled Shinya. "In the second race I was able to do fast and consistent times and overtake Capirossi and chase the front group.

"The tyre performance from Bridgestone was very good today in these conditions and I was very comfortable at this pace. Towards the end I had a couple of front end slides so I just made sure I finished. Kawasaki and Bridgestone are back challenging the front group, which is exactly where we should be," he added.

"I'm smiling and crying at the same time," admitted team manager Harald Eckl, with reference to the turn one collision between Alex Hofmann and Olivier Jacque (see separate story). "Shinya rode a fantastic race, he was fast and consistent, so thanks to the excellent effort from Bridgestone this weekend."