Tom Sykes (KRT) secured the fastest time of a two-day test at Jerez in Spain after a strong showing of overall pace. His team-mate Jonathan Rea took the seventh best time, as the reigning champion worked on optimising the base set-up of the new Ninja ZX-10R in readiness for the new WorldSBK season.

The track conditions at this test did not replicate the grippier ones the team found in their previous Jerez outing in November. Despite this relative lack of grip Sykes managed to be the only rider from the 27 present who got inside the 1’39 bracket with his 1’39.924, achieved after using a qualifying rear tyre.

Rea, who did not use a qualifying rear, still set a best lap time of 1’40.856. He continued to experiment to find his ideal base setting on the new Ninja ZX-10R, which he and Sykes both rode in the recent global launch of the new Kawasaki showroom model in Malaysia.

Sykes has settled into the on-track groove of the new Ninja ZX-10R WorldSBK machine comfortably from the first tests. At this Jerez test concentrated on reconfirming the choice of some items that were settled on before the winter break.

Rea did not make a long run at this test, preferring to make lots of laps on used tyres, as he and his crew evaluated different chassis settings and engine characteristics.

A damp track surface to start on day one and fog early on day two held back the overall lap count for all riders at Jerez but conditions improved to ensure a productive period of work in the sunny afternoon sessions. Sykes managed to put in 126 laps and Rea 122 across the two days.

The entire KRT squad will now move right across Spain to make their final European winter tests at the Motorland Aragon circuit, between 3 and 4 February. The first races of the year take place in over final weekend of February, under the new format of one race on Saturday and the second on Sunday.

Tom Sykes stated: “All smiles round here because basically we have changed a lot of settings, exploring more parameters with the new bike. We have a good opportunity to explore many things. All credit to Marcel and Danilo and all the mechanics because they are working overtime and I am just riding the bike. It is confirmation of what we have developed in previous years that we have done a good job because this new bike is the ‘baby’ from those years. It is working well for both riders and Kawasaki has done a great job. There are still areas where I want to improve both the bike and me but to come away from both winter tests in Jerez fastest is good, because it is not my strongest circuit. This adds to the excitement and motivation for the coming season on the new Ninja ZX-10R.”

Jonathan Rea stated: “It is clear that the new bike has been developed more for another riding style and it asks you to ride in a certain way. So we are still exploring exactly how to extract the best out of the bike and we have changed many things. It was clear that when we arrived here the track grip level was much worse than the last time, so it required a little bit of a different set-up. Our testing philosophy this winter – testing big items and not getting carried away with the set-up – has really made sense here. It was the same track, same part of the world but a different character this time. We had a new fork specification to try and a different engine character. We are just using the tools in the toolbox now and understanding more about the new Ninja ZX-10R. We have been working calmly and methodically and if the starting lights went out at Jerez tomorrow we would not be seventh.”

Marcel Duinker, Tom Sykes’ Crew Chief, stated: “Tom used a Q tyre for the fastest lap and it seems the track was not the same as it was in the November tests. We need to be fast and consistent in any condition and we did a lot of our job during the test in November. When we finished that we gave our package its shape so here it was a matter of trying out small test items and polishing our bike to prepare ourselves for the season opener. We are ready to go to Phillip Island now but we have another two days at Motorland Aragon, a different type of track, where we can confirm our pace and consistency.”

Pere Riba, Jonathan Rea’s Crew Chief, stated: “Winter time is to understand the bike and its reactions to changes and different situations. It gives the rider time to understand different things and time for us to follow our test plan. This is a new bike and there are still important points that we are looking to understand it more, to find out what the best base point is. This also relates to the track grip and these two days have been useful because the grip this time was not so good. That lets us understand how to make improvements in case we have these conditions in the real race. We have been working with tyres that have done over 20 laps just to comprehend where we are. We did not make a long run, a race simulation, but we did many laps. The important thing is to arrive in Phillip Island for round one with a good package in many different situations.”

Kawasaki’s official FIM Superbike World Championship entry, KRT, will start its final two-day European winter test at Motorland Aragon on Wednesday 3rd February, one week before the official team launch of the all-new Ninja ZX-10R in full race colours. After that public unveiling 2015 champion Jonathan Rea and 2013 champion Tom Sykes will head to Phillip Island in Australia for the first of the 14 scheduled rounds in the 2016 season.

Thanks to the previous tests the KRT duo have completed in Europe on the latest model Ninja ZX-10R this winter, both before and after the official test ban, the team is already at a high level of preparedness as they learn the ways of the all-new Ninja ZX-10R.
The two forthcoming test days at Motorland Aragon in northern Spain will be used to make the final evaluations and confirmations before the first travel crates full of parts and equipment head off to Australia.
Motorland has already hosted testing for the KRT squad this winter, so this outing will be useful after strong results were gained at the previous tests in Jerez last week.

Rea is looking to concentrate some of his available track time on race simulations in Aragon while Sykes is aiming to reconfirm some existing settings for the most part and try to find even more improvements for the first round – which takes place in less than one month’s time.
There will be one official pre-season test session for all riders at PI, on Monday 22 February and Tuesday 23 February, before the race weekend begins for real.

The Motorland Aragon circuit itself is a long, undulating and ultra-modern design with a long back straight to let the powerful new Ninja ZX-10R sing to its full volume as the riders click through the gears. As such, it is a very contrasting circuit to Jerez; meaning strong results from the forthcoming sessions will prove that the improvements the team have found in the new machine should transfer to many other kinds of venues.

Tom Sykes stated, “Our test at Jerez went very well and I am happy. Jerez was really straightforward. We made both big and small set-up changes there, so it was really productive. We learned a lot about the new 2016 bike on the final day and now I am looking forward to Motorland to have more time on the bike and reconfirm some settings. There are always areas where I want to improve, with the combination of both me and the bike.”
Jonathan Rea stated: “We have an extra two days on track now at Motorland before we go to Australia. We did not do any race simulations so far in 2016 so it would be nice to be equipped with that information before we go to Australia. We will continue to work and understand the bike a little bit more and be in good shape for the races. I have had a pretty hectic start to the year so I forced myself to have a few quiet days before this test, to be fully prepared for it.”

Guim Roda, Team Manager KRT, stated: “This will be the last winter test before we move to Phillip Island in Australia. There are still some things to test and riding on the track helps to make riders fit again after the long winter test ban. Johnny and Tom are both keen to run at PI and both of them feel strong. They will be able to give their best at the first round of the year. After this test all the bikes will be transported to PI but before that, in Barcelona on the 11th of February, we will show the new bike design in public for the first time and present the new KRT Ninja ZX-10R that Tom and Johnny will use to fight for the title in 2016.

Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes completed the final European test of their pre-season preparations at Motorland Aragon today, finding further improvements in the set-up of the new Ninja ZX-10R as the first round of the 2016 season looms on the horizon.

High winds prevented any action form the official KRT pairing on day one but they made the most of their window of opportunity today to finalise their personal choices of machine set-up – and compare the most recent data collected at their previous test at Jerez de la Frontera last week.

The team staff used the first day at Motorland to build the final spec of 2016 WorldSBK racing machinery; using materials freshly arrived from KHI in Japan. Tom and Jonathan started on track at midday on day two after the track had warmed-up somewhat.

Sykes was pleased to be at the same best pace he recorded in the 2015 race weekend, after finding improvements from the recent Jerez test sessions. Despite a bout of illness, reigning champion Rea was still on strong form as he finalised settings to his engine’s overall character and fine-tuned his suspension.

Other Kawasaki teams were present at Motorland, with optimism high for all at the prospects for not only the WorldSBK riders, but also the Superstock 1000FIM Cup competitors, who will be running the new Ninja ZX-10R machine in close to standard specification.

The European winter test schedule is now complete but here will be an official two-day test for all WorldSBK runners prior to the opening race weekend of the year in Australia. The first day of testing will be Monday 22 February, at the classic Phillip Island circuit.

Tom Sykes stated: “We had a good test, short but very productive. I am happy to have finished the European winter testing on a great level and we are working really nicely. I have been speaking with some of the other Kawasaki riders and they are really happy on the new bike, saying that it is very easy to ride. We focused on some fundamental things and not on performance, which was good. It worked out to be quite productive at the end. We had to do a couple of things for Pirelli, for their information, and I am really happy how things went.”

Jonathan Rea stated: “Today we tried out different spec front forks and rear shocks and we changed the engine character a little bit. The information we gained we can look at over the next week to make sure we arrive at Phillip Island in good shape. We will have two good days on track in Phillip Island, which gives us more time before the races start. I am excited to go there because I have good memories from last year – but it also feels like home. I am just looking forward to putting everything together and having a proper race weekend. That is what we are all working toward so it is an exciting time right now.”

Marcel Duinker, Tom Sykes’ Crew Chief, stated: “We continued with the bike we used in Jerez and we improved a some small items, which will also be very useful for Phillip Island. We made some steps on the chassis set-up and the fine-tuning worked out. We had a good feeling from the bike right away at Motorland and Tom set some good lap times, which was good in these cooler conditions. We are all ready for Australia now and we are confident to go to the first round.”

Pere Riba, Jonathan Rea’s Crew Chief, stated: “The test was positive. We tried two items that we really wanted to test. We collected some new information and we can put that in our pockets and got to PI. We tried some new fork set-ups just to check them and now we are preparing the bike for round one. We are looking forward to going to Phillip Island.”

Only two weeks ahead of the first round of the 2016 FIM Superbike World Championship season the official Kawasaki Racing Team will unveil the all-new WorldSBK specification Ninja ZX-10R on the evening of 11 February.

With a whole new showroom model for KRT to base its race efforts around this year, in what is the most prestigious production-derived championship in the world, the anticipation of seeing the final livery and technical specification of the class-leading KRT Ninja ZX-10R has never been higher. The first public look at the new colour scheme of the machine is always a high point of the presentation, with the 2016 graphics package including prominent logos from top partners Motocard, Elf Total and Monster Energy.

Add in the fact that both KRT riders have achieved World Championship status using the previous incarnation of the Ninja family – Tom Sykes in 2013 and Jonathan Rea last year – and the attention of the racing world is sure to be focused on the launch, which will take place at 20.00 CET on Thursday evening, in Barcelona.

Jonathan Rea, the reigning world champion, stated: “It is great that the team organise such an event to officially launch the 2016 racing program. I was involved in a pre-event photo shoot last week, after the Motorland Aragon test sessions. The new bike looks great and it is quite different to last year. I think everybody will be really impressed with it. The launch is well organised and it shows that it is done by a factory team. I believe there will be Dorna representatives, TV representatives plus other media there on the night, which is really cool.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “I am really looking forward to the launch now, and it is always a great event. Doing it in Barcelona is a good way to go about it. We have had some fantastic form in winter testing on the new bike. We have shown great speed and it has come without pushing, so I am happy. It is fitting to do the launch at this point, as we are ready for the start of the season now. Everything is in place so I am really excited and motivated.”

WSBK Ninja ZX-10R revealed; watch the official Kawasaki entry in the 2016 WorldSBK championship being unveiled.

Official KRT riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes took turns to lead the thrilling 22-lap Saturday race in the FIM Superbike World Championship on their all-new Ninja ZX-10R machines but it was 2015 champion Rea who emerged with the race victory, as Sykes finished an eventual fifth.

With the two KRT WorldSBK riders starting from the front row after Sykes had qualified on pole and Rea had been third fastest after Superpole 2, the prospects were good from the start, in the first race at this level for the new model ZX-10R.

Rea and Sykes did the early running up front, with Rea then Sykes and then Rea again leading every one of the 22 laps. With up to nine riders forming one leading group and podium challengers all around right to the end the pressure was intense throughout, with Rea finally winning by resisting the late challenge of Ducati rider Chaz Davies.

‘JR’ was passed for a short time after Davies had went inside at the MG hairpin. Jonathan chose the best exit line to ensure Davies could not stay in front at the exit of the corner and won by 0.063 seconds. This was his 30th career win in this category.

Sykes, who had taken his 31st Superpole success earlier in the day rode his new Ninja ZX-10R in the lead from lap three to lap six but had to drop back as he lost ground in two key areas of the circuit. He rallied to finish fifth and score valuable championship points.

The second race of the weekend will take place at 3pm local time in Australia on Sunday 28th.

Jonathan Rea stated: “We expected to be strong because I am so lucky with Pere and my guys. I put all my trust in them, we made a strategy for the winter tests in November and it is clear that it worked. To be strong in the race, to control the race from the front at this track, is so difficult. I had a look every lap on the big screen at MG and I could see the size of the group at the front. It eventually dropped to four guys and in the end three. I put my head down with six laps to go and upped the pace but it was still ‘+0’ on my pit board. Then with three to go I made another push and Chaz was still there. I knew the only way to win the race was to close the door at MG, but he blew it completely wide open! I managed to stop the bike and fire it out. It was not a very pretty last sector but we won the race and have 25 points. I am really happy because all our work paid off.”

Tom Sykes stated: “I think no-one wanted to lead but Jonathan and I had good pace initially but unfortunately I lost a little bit of track position to some other riders. That disturbed my rhythm a bit but we had good pace in the middle and at three quarters distance. Really, it was just on two corners on the track where we struggled and I was able to take an advantage in many areas but I lost it all in two vital areas of the racetrack. I had to ride around this but on the plus side the gap to the front was smaller than we have had in the past here and we are improving the feeling all the time. I am not downbeat and it is a long season. Now we have another race tomorrow.”

Behind the official KRT duo Roman Ramos (GO Eleven Kawasaki) slotted in 11th place and Sylvain Barrier (Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) took the final point on offer for 15th. Grillini Kawasaki rider Dominic Schmitter was 16th and Pedercini Racing Kawasaki rider Saeed Al Sulaiti was 17th in his first ever WorldSBK contest.

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.