Paul Denning (Crescent Suzuki) - Q&A

Crash.net:
It looked like an up and down weekend for Suzuki. You had good pace but it seemed even more competitive than usual this weekend.

Paul Denning:
Yeah, we didn't achieve what we thought that we could achieve today in terms of race results. Everyone worked hard but the track temperature was down compared to yesterday and, especially for Eugene, it worked against our bike and where we were yesterday in the really hot conditions. The nature of the grip on the track and the way that the tyres dropped just didn't quite work for us.

The margins are so close, seven seconds from the winner in Race 1 and ten seconds in Race 2. The ten seconds is too far but it's only half a second a lap so you don't need to find much to think 'yeah, we can work on that.' So it's positive in some ways and Eugene is riding very well but we're still a bit further away than we'd like to be.

Crash.net:
Overall for the season so far how have you felt that the team has progressed?

Paul Denning:
A lack of consistency has been our biggest problem and we've had some bad luck but at the same time you've got to make your own luck and find the rhythm to help the riders find confidence and perform well. We're not in the championship positions that both riders are capable of but we've got two more rounds so we'll keep pushing and trying to improve.

Crash.net:
What have you thought of Alex's performances this year, coming into the class as a rookie?

Paul Denning:
Alex has done very well, I think that he's done a lot better than he feels he's done. He was the British champion last year but this is the world championship against factory teams and if the riders that he beat last year were good enough to be here they'd be here. I don't mean to be harsh when I say that because they're at different stages of their careers, but you've got to respect the competition here and the different tracks so I think that he's done really well. His potential for the future is good.

Crash.net:
Has he been a little bit impatient this year in looking to always make that next step forward?

Paul Denning:
Absolutely but that's part of the learning process for a rider.

Crash.net:
And on the other side of the garage how have you found working with Eugene this year?

Paul Denning:
Eugene's so professional, honest and easy to work with. Technically he's very gifted on the bike and he's been a great team player and our biggest focus is to keep him going forward. The rider makes the biggest difference and I think that in the second year with the team and the bike moving forward he could do a great job. Obviously it's not only up to us but if we could make that happen it would be the best result for us.

Crash.net:
Overall what do you think of the health of the championship?

Paul Denning:
It's improving and I think that it's only the second year of Dorna's tenure with the series and it takes time to build. I think that they're doing ok and I think that things will be healthier going forward. There were factors against the series this year with the South African and Russian situations that were unforeseeable for Dorna and it was a shame that those rounds were cancelled but they're working hard on the calendar for next year so we'll see what happens.