Once again Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes were well in the leading mix at the FIM Superbike World Championship round in Phillip Island. On the new Ninja ZX-10R Rea finally took his second win of the new season – and the championship lead of 14 points. Tom led for ten laps of the 22-lap race but two incidents pushed him back to sixth place, for sixth overall ranking in the championship.

From their front row starting positions both KRT riders made good starts with Rea aiming for his second race win of the year and Superpole winner Sykes looking for his first.

Rea led more than once and confirmed his pace in the final laps, winning the race by an eventual 0.831 seconds after Chaz Davies had fallen while trying to pass Jonathan on turn four. Rea made his escape count as Davies restarted to finish tenth, and the Kawasaki rider scored a second win of the opening weekend.

Sykes pushed away up front in race two today but was unable to make a clean break, meaning Rea was right back with him by the end of the fifth lap, followed by a pack of riders. On lap 11 Sykes dropped three positions to fourth in one corner, running wide after missing a gear, with Rea taking the lead for the first time.

After a tangle with eventual third place rider Davide Giugliano Sykes was dropped back again, regrouping and pushing on to a final sixth place, 3.320 seconds from the win.

The second round of the new season will take place in Buriram, Thailand, between the 11th and 13th of March.

Jonathan Rea stated: “It is incredible. We had two really composed races this weekend. I just did my thing and was very patient in both races at the beginning. Today I knew that Chaz would make a move again, a copybook story from yesterday, but he came through when there was no space, went completely wide and, unfortunate for him, he made a mistake. The set-up changes we made between yesterday and today means the team gave me a bike that was quite easy to ride and I was more ready for attacks. Not just in T4 but in many areas. I thank my team for that. We played the strategy game here in Phillip Island and it really paid off. I feel that we are working at around 85-90% of the potential of the machine and I am really proud to give Kawasaki these two wins on the new bike.”

Tom Sykes stated: “We are definitely knocking on the door in terms of our showings at Phillip Island. I felt really comfortable in race two up until lap ten. Going into the hairpin I struggled on the downshift. I missed gear and ran off the track. Unfortunately, on that lap I lost 1.6 seconds. A couple of laps later Giugliano and I came together and I lost another 1.6 seconds. Overall, we made a couple of small changes to the bike for today and I felt much, much more comfortable. Unfortunately I was not in the correct track position in the last five laps of the race. I am happy for the progress we have made and it something we can take forward. I have never been great here, for some reason, because I love the place.”

Roman Ramos (GO Eleven Kawasaki) scored another set of points for 12th place today, with the final point from the second race of the weekend heading to 15th placed Sylvain Barrier (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki). Dominic Schmitter was once again 16th and Pedercini Racing’s Saeed Al Sulaiti 17th for the second time in two days.

Reigning World SBK Champion, Jonathan Rea, recently visited the Kawasaki’s Akashi plant near Kobe in Japan as a VIP guest.
A tour was organised so that the 29 year old Irishman could meet, greet and thank as many Kawasaki executives, managers and staff as possible for their assistance in helping him and the Ninja ZX-10R equipped Kawasaki Racing Team achieve the top ranking in the World Superbike Championship. This is the story – in words and pictures – of his tour.

FIM Superbike World Championship riders for KRT, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes, made their first laps around the Chang International Circuit in Buriram today aboard their new Ninja ZX-10R machines. On a track surface which proved inconsistent in places they placed fifth and seventh respectively after the first two qualifying sessions, being more concerned with race preparations in hot conditions than going for a fast time.

KRT challengers Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes shared the lead for all 20 laps of the first FIM Superbike World Championship race at Buriram in Thailand between them, with Rea finally running out the winner by only 0.222 seconds from his team-mate. A strong showing from the new Ninja ZX-10R saw championship leader Rea and now third ranked Sykes finish over nine seconds from the next closest rider.

With high air temperatures of 34°C evident during the contest at the 4.554km long Chang International Circuit the race was hard work for all, but it was the KRT pairing who held the advantage after all the laps had been completed.

Despite the slippery track surface in some areas, causing the riders to take unusual lines at those points, Rea’s race time was better than his equivalent 2015 season win. He set the fastest lap of the race on lap 14, as he chased down Sykes and then passed him.

This was Rea’s third win in succession on the new Ninja, giving him a perfect 75 points after three races, with one more 20-lap race in Thailand to go tomorrow, Sunday 13th.

There was a glimmer of a chance for Sykes to pull back and pass Rea on the final laps today, particularly when a backmarker impeded Jonathan. Despite Tom drawing close to Rea on an inside line into the final corner Jonathan had done enough to make sure the race victory would be his.

Sykes led for 14 laps as he and his machine showed a marked level of race-long improvement in pace compared to the opening round in Australia last month. This was Tom’s first podium of the year and the 20 points he earned today put him third in the overnight championship order, with 41.

Both Kawasaki riders feel that there are even more improvements to come from their Ninja ZX-10R machines over race distance for race two tomorrow, based on their positive experiences today.

Jonathan Rea stated: “The pace was fast; I did not expect it to be so fast as all weekend we have been slower than last year. So it was a good, fast race. I put my head down and with four laps to go I got a small gap of about 0.7 or 0.8 seconds on Tom. On the final laps I got caught out in the first turn by another rider but it was not so much. I had done all my work by then as I had completely emptied my tank with about four laps to go to try and get away. I am a little bit tired now because I went full gas in those last four laps. We were able to capitalise on that work and I feel like I rode for a stronger win than I have had for a long time. Tomorrow, I expect my bike set-up will be much stronger.”

Tom Sykes stated: “I am quite happy with that because compared to last year we made a much stronger race. Unfortunately I was struggling in two or three corners, which gave away a lot of advantage. Jonathan was riding very well and on the last laps he was strong but we were also strong at that stage compared to previous races. This is a positive and the gap was not so big to the winner. We have a much better feeling, so this is a good step. The Ninja ZX-10R was working consistently and we had some great lap times, so we’ll see how it goes next race. We need to try and improve for tomorrow but as a start that was quite acceptable. I am disappointed not to win on one hand but we have had a big improvement on the other hand. We are working in the right direction.”

Roman Ramos (Team GOELEVEN Kawasaki) placed 12th in race one, while Pedercini Team Kawasaki riders Sylvain barrier and Saeed Al Sulaiti were 16th and 17th respectively, just missing out on championship points. Dominic Schmitter (Grillini Racing Team) was 19th.

Tom Sykes and the official Kawasaki Racing Team completed the first winter test in readiness for the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship campaign, with positive days of progress and evaluation at Motorland Aragon finishing up today, 29th October. The bulk of the testing was completed towards the end of the three days and Sykes set 72 laps on the final day.

With significant numbers of 2016 season parts being tested on the Ninja ZX-10R at this, the first of many winter tests, the team and KHI now expect to make a greater transition to the full 2016-spec machine at the next tests at Jerez de La Frontera, next week. They will also re-confirm the parts and settings that proved so positive at Motorland.
There were significant improvements in the braking stability and engine performance of the WorldSBK spec race machine around Motorland, even in this first full track test, as lone tester Tom Sykes and his crew worked through almost their entire schedule of work.

On a clear final day, after occasional wet conditions earlier in the tests, Sykes set a best lap time of 1’50.6, a mark which he matched with some consistency throughout. Over the whole test Sykes did 139 laps of the long 5.077km circuit in the north of Spain.

The team now heads right across Spain to test at the Andalusia circuit of Jerez de La Frontera, between 3 and 4 November – this time with new World Champion Jonathan Rea (KRT) joining in after the recent birth of his second child meant he missed the first test at Motorland Aragon.
Tom Sykes stated: “We are heading back in a good direction to something we know. We ironed out some teething problems and got a general feel for things on the opening days and then today, when the sun was out from start to finish, we got our heads down and worked through a whole book of tricks. The team worked overtime today – parts in, parts out – all day. They all worked really efficiently and kept us on track for the maximum time possible. The overall performance of the Ninja ZX-10R at these tests is something that excites me. Overall the lap times were really consistent. The feeling was easier to achieve than I have been used to. It is still early days but this has definitely been a good start to our winter test programme.”

Marcel Duinker, Tom Sykes’ Crew Chief, stated: “Today the weather was stable and although we could not do all the scheduled tests, we completed the most important points. At 5pm we were happy with the results. After three or four steps we knew the direction to go in for the start in 2016. Those three or four steps have given a very clear direction. Tom pushed in the same way every time he went out on track and we were very happy to see the results. He did more than race distance on one set of tyres and was a faster than the previous pace, so we have to be happy with the result. We will always find some more things to improve but after one full day I believe we have already done around 50% of our winter test schedule. Tom did not do a full time attack but on fresh tyres, on his fourth lap, he did a best of 1’50.6. He did that kind of lap time several times.”

Ichiro Yoda, KRT Senior Engineer, stated: “The final day of the test was made in near perfect weather. We almost completed the schedule at this Motorland test and now we will look to the Jerez test to perform some more function tests. We used a mix of materials here, but mostly 2016 parts. Maybe in Jerez we can concentrate almost completely on 2016 material because we expect some other steps. After this first test it looks like engine performance and acceleration is better than in 2015. Braking stability was better also.”

2016 Kawasaki Racing Team riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes will take part in their first joint winter test session on 3 and 4 November, at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain. After Sykes had a very positive testing experience on his own recently at Motorland Aragon the entire team will now take its next step into the forthcoming FIM Superbike World Championship season, with the new and improved 2016 Ninja ZX-10R.

Rea, who was at home for the birth of his second son during the Motorland tests, is keen to get back into action after testing some 2016 parts at a one-day session at Jerez, immediately after winning the 2015 championship in September.
Sykes found real improvements in the 2016 material and machine set-up he tested in Motorland and is now heading to Jerez to make sure he can make the most of the second test on a busy KRT winter schedule.

Jerez is a particularly useful circuit to evaluate machines and parts as its 4.423km layout features a wide variety of corners and elevation changes. Its location in the south west of Spain usually provides the best weather in Europe during the winter months.

Kawasaki and the entire KRT squad will use their full winter test programme to accelerate the final development of the WorldSBK specification Ninja ZX-10R in readiness for the first round of the new season at the end of February in Australia. The race machine will be directly based on the new showroom model that was launched recently in Spain, which in itself features many ideas and design characteristics first developed in the white heat of WorldSBK racing.

Jonathan Rea stated: “I am really excited to get back onto the bike again. I started to test some new components on the bike in Jerez the day after the race in September and right there and then I had a good feeling with the direction things were going in. Speaking to some of the crew and KHI staff about the Motorland test last week they have moved the bike forward. The areas it has improved in should really help me a lot and I want to try the full potential. I am excited because Pere Riba, my crew chief, has worked really hard with the KHI engineers to make the 2016 bike really competitive for me. We will adopt our step-by-step philosophy again, get through the test programme and not get too excited because there is a lot of mileage and riding to be done before the first round in Phillip Island.”

Tom Sykes stated: “The KRT squad has got a quite heavy winter testing schedule, which is good. We are bound to work through our set-up again and in Jerez we have the added bonus of more new material that will be present on our bike for next year. We want to confirm our findings from the Motorland test last time out so we will try them again because we have a good timescale to work with. Jerez and Aragon are quite different racetracks so we will see how the behaviour and character of the bike is in Jerez. A same or similar result will confirm the very good results from the previous Motorland test and set us off in a good direction again for the rest of the winter.”

Guim Roda, Team Manager KRT, stated: “Our main idea is to continue the testing and good way of working with the parts we have received from KHI. It is the right period of the year to test many of the ideas that the team and the crew chiefs had in mind, to try and find new levels of performance. Testing on two different tracks means you can confirm the operation of the parts we have tried already and Jerez it is always good to work on to make these comparisons. We also need to fix and clarify some small points and details on order to decide the information to give to the team’s suppliers, so that we can start the new season in February with the right amount of the correct material. Jonathan will be with us this time after having had a chance to enjoy his private life and the birth of his son.”

Kawasaki Racing Team pairing Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes made the most of the available track time at Motorland Aragon over a two-day test with the 2016 Ninja ZX-10R while also filming an interview session for the launch of the much anticipated KRT Winter Test Edition of the same bike in its road form at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan.

With some new parts to try, and confirmations being made of some components that have been tested already, both Sykes and Rea collected valuable data for their team crew and KHI to evaluate before the next track sessions, to be held in Jerez de la Frontera next week.

Rea, who rode in the short window of opportunity that appeared late on during day one, after heavy fog and low cloud had prevented any meaningful early action, finally set a best lap of 1’50.3 on day two. It was the fastest lap of the tests.
Sykes and his crew had elected not to do any laps on the first day, given the low track temperatures. He was out as soon as the sun had warmed up the track enough on day two. Tom set his best lap time of 1’51.1 and also tried some new parts, in addition reconfirming some existing components and settings.

Jonathan Rea stated: “We tested engine settings with a little bit different inertia and worked with some weight distribution ideas. We also tried a different rear spring and we confirmed everything was fine. I did some back-to-back comparisons with a new rear tyre that Pirelli had brought. It was like an SC1 family with stronger sidewalls, which gave more stability. For me it was a big step my riding style. We also used the new swing arm we first used in Jerez and we reconfirmed that too.”

Tom Sykes stated: “I am very happy considering the track conditions and the limited amount of testing we had. We have only worked with the hard tyres all day and I am really pleased with the lap times and the consistency. Overall the base seems very good and like always we tried some interesting items today. They were positive in some areas and, although there is still work to be done in other areas, generally we did not touch the bike in terms of set-up. We were just checking the updated 2016 parts. I am really pleased with the performance of them.”

Pere Riba, Jonathan Rea’s Crew Chief, stated: “Like the 2016 Ninja ZX-10R road machine, we have new engine inertia characteristics this year and with that it makes everything work differently, so also the engine management must be different. We have just tried different inertia settings to understand the changes. We are still at the stage of collecting information and now is not the time to set-up the bike to be too sharp. We also tried the new swingarm, rear shock and the big things we have to test. Now we can start to eliminate points and start to build the bike. The lap times were very good and Johnny is very confident. It was a positive test and I am very happy.”

Marcel Duinker, Tom Sykes’ Crew Chief, stated: “Today the morning fog was gone quite fast, the sun came out early and we could start testing this afternoon. The three or four priorities we wanted to test here, which we tried in Jerez last week, we worked with again. We have now confirmed on two tracks that this material has improved our general performance. Not only after one lap but also over race distance. We made a couple of steps on the engine and on the chassis and I am very satisfied with this result.”

Kawasaki Racing Team riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes will embark on their latest winter test sessions, starting on Monday 23 November, riding for the second time at Jerez de la Frontera since the end of the season. 2015 FIM Superbike World Champion Jonathan Rea will start his test one day after attending the FIM Gala at Jerez on Sunday night, where he collects his FIM medal for winning the title in such spectacular form.