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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

26 Avril 2018

Mid-Season Test Success For KRT

KRT’s WorldSBK riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes completed a two-day test at Brno in the Czech Republic, from 25th to 26th April, just a few days after each had earned a race win apiece at the fourth round of the championship in the Netherlands. 

Both Ninja ZX-10RR riders and the entire official Kawasaki effort arrived in Brno in confident mood after their recent successes at Assen. Rea extended his championship lead last weekend and Sykes climbed up the championship table to fifth after eight individual points scoring races completed so far.
 
This Brno test, run alongside some of their main championship rivals, was important for several reasons, including the fact that Brno has not been used as an FIM Superbike World Championship venue since 2012. It was also the culmination of a busy period for KRT, with race meetings in Spain and the Netherlands on consecutive weekends, and now another full-on test at a returning WorldSBK venue.
 
Rea and his crew used their two days at Brno to match his optimum riding style even more closely to a machine that has already delivered three race wins to him in 2018.
 
Sykes, who won his first race of the year in the second race at Assen, tried some more fundamental set-up options than most and found another positive path to follow for the rest of the season.
 
The Brno WorldSBK weekend is expected to be held in even warmer conditions than this test enjoyed, as race days will take place on 9th and 10th of June. 

After the completion of two days on track at Brno, Kawasaki’s official team will return to competitive action at Imola, in Italy, with racedays on 12th and 13th of May.
 
Jonathan Rea, stated: “It’s been really positive to test in Brno especially because we haven’t raced here since 2012. It’s one of my favourite circuits so it was easy to keep my motivation high after these busy few weeks. The weather has been quite different on both days so it was good to understand how the bike behaves in both hot and cool conditions. Without the pressure of the race weekend we were able to work calmly each day and explore some different setup and chassis balance ideas. Each time we changed the bike we had some positive and some less positive feelings, so we will keep working on that side of things. I want to thank all the Kawasaki Racing staff and Hospitality crew who have been working full gas these past three weeks. Also a special shout out to my mechanics, because I kept them really busy making a lot of changes.”
 
Tom Sykes, stated: “Overall, a good test. Lots of laps and plenty of small tweaks to the bike, so we found out a lot of good information.  I left with a good feeling overall with the feedback from the bike. With it being a proper test we had some key things to try and never got down to the nitty-gritty of finding pure set-up for this racetrack. It was more about fine tuning the bike’s characteristics. The last round at Assen was fantastic and I felt really comfortable, so hopefully we have found some things in small areas that can help me in each race from now on. We found a happy medium between two or three set-up changes, so these helped me in the area I needed improve and we did not lose too much in the areas where we were already good.”


Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Jonathan Rea, stated: “We had warmer weather on day one as today the test conditions were cooler. This was useful for us, as it was important to see how the tyres and bike work in different conditions. We tried to work for the best set-up and preparation for the June race here in Brno, after many years not racing at this circuit and also improve the general feeling from the bike. Jonathan has requested a smooth-feeling bike, with no aggressive reactions, so we worked on parts that would affect the balance. It has been a positive test and we are still making steps forward. We left here with a starting point for the race at Brno and also trying to improve some of the weak points from the first three or four races. Jonathan was first and then second in Assen recently but we are always looking to improve the bike and the feeling of the rider with the bike.”
 
Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Tom Sykes stated: “We had a nice test and after Assen I was very optimistic. Of course, we had found a good base setting already this season. We are very happy about the bike settings and our performance here. The target of this test was to familiarise ourselves with this track layout again, and to test some new items in the suspension set-up, which were very promising, and some other small items. We did not do so much work just for this track as our bike set-up works well at each track we have been to. So we worked in the areas we needed to make a general improvement in and Tom is happy.”
 
2018 KRT Rider Statistics
 
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015, 2016 & 2017
2018: Races 8, Wins 3, Podiums 6, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 57 (42 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 118 (76 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 15 (11 for Kawasaki)
 
Tom Sykes: World Champion 2013
2018: Races: 8, Wins 1, Podiums 2, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 34 (34 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 102 (101 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 43 (43 for Kawasaki)
 
5 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Sykes 2013, Rea 2015, 2016 & 2017), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
3 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017)
3 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016 & 2017)
 
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 113 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 356 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 75 – second overall
 
 
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