Broc Parkes rode a perfect race at Misano to take his first victory for Kawasaki and take the team's first race win of the season. Broc also seized the lead in the Riders' Championship standings.

Having qualified fourth fastest, Parkes was in line for a good result and his longed-for first win in Kawasaki colours came at one of his favourite circuits, after making a change to the machine set-up which worked well in real race conditions over all 22-laps.

Broc now leads the championship by five points from Chaz Davies, who led the race for a time, before Parkes swept past on lap five.

David Salom almost joined Parkes on the podium at Misano, finishing fourth, less than half a second from his team-mate. He was third early on but dropped to sixth before rallying in the later stages and passing another rider on the last lap to go into the top four. David is fifth in the championship, one point from fourth place.

The next round at Aragon is in David’s home country of Spain, where he can count on some solid support from the crowd.

Broc Parkes:

“Unreal to win. It felt really good and I got a good start from fourth place on the grid. I was really concerned how the set-up would be for the race, because we made quite a big change for the start, so we did not know exactly where we were. It was a little bit of a gamble but it paid off in the end. I got out in front, got to the lead and looked back to see who was behind me. I could see he was not a championship contender, so I had to think about points as well. But I wanted a win, I really wanted to win so much, and at the end we took it. I could see some other guys were coming, but I just had to stay relaxed and control the race. First Kawasaki win for me and it feels good, and a great job from all the team.”

David Salom:

“Not a bad race to finish in fourth position, it’s good, and it was a strong race for the championship. However, I was really looking for a podium. It was not possible in this race because of a backmarker, as it was not possible to pass him at the right time. But I had a good race with Sam Lowes and I am happy for the team because they did a good job this weekend.”