Laconi returns Kawasaki to top ten.

Regis Laconi returned Kawasaki to the top ten for the first time in ten races after battling to a ninth place finish in the latest round of the World Superbike Championship at Vallelunga.

The factory-supported PSG-1 outfit have struggled to develop the ZX-10R over the course of the season, with the combination of Laconi and Makoto Tamada scoring just a single point between them in the eight races preceding Vallelunga.

Laconi, who recently revealed to Crash.net that he is eyeing move from the San Marino-based team next season, was on good form over the weekend though, reaching Superpole before challenging for points in the first race.

However, while he ran as high as 12th, the Frenchman would drop to 16th and out of the points as suffered with chattering woes.

"In race one I made a quite good start but after few laps I began to get the chattering that, until yesterday, it seemed had disappeared. Because of the chattering I really had difficulties to follow the proper trajectory in the bends.

Nonetheless, a superb start in the second race did much of the work for Laconi as he ended lap one in eighth. He would go on to drop just one more position on the way to the chequered flag.

"Between race one and race two the whole team worked really well to solve the problem by making the rear shock less rigid and it helped a lot making easier to manage the bike in race two where I reached the 9th position. I'm really glad for this result as the team really deserved it after all the great job they did and still do."

Ninth also proves just one position below his best result of the season at Valencia back in April, with Laconi moving ahead of team-mate Tamada in the standings to 19th in the process.