WSB: Positive test for Kawasaki duo at Jerez

While many World Superbike teams tested at Misano ahead of the eighth round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship, the Kawasaki Racing Team duo headed to Jerez to turn some laps before the second half of the season gets underway in two weeks’ time.

Fresh from two 1-2 results at Donington Park, Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes worked hard to make progress with set-up and consistency. The pair are said to have posted ‘competitive’ times throughout the two days, even on used tyres with exceedingly high track temperatures.

 “The good weather meant we had lots of uninterrupted track time and the quite high temperatures which may be very relevant when we come to race here in October,” said Rea. “We focused mainly on the electronics side and other components in preparation for 2017. We got positive information for that and the main target was to test the new material. Lap time was not the main focus but we managed to be quite fast and consistent on old tyres, and we spent a lot of time on them. We gained some really valuable information in some areas for the next race and some benefits we will not see the result of until 2017. I want to say thank you very much to everyone for organising this test. It was logistically very difficult so soon after Donington, so thanks to the mechanics, team staff and KHI staff for all the effort after a race weekend and then a test for two full days.”
 
Tom Sykes, stated: “We got in a really good test overall and did a lot of laps. I am really happy and the pace I got to here is really good, especially considering the track temperature was 63°C at some times. We have continued the good form from recent events and the best thing is that we were able to try things that we are not able to test at race events. We evaluated many things on chassis and suspension set up, and with our electronics. I did around 80 laps yesterday and about the same again today. I can relax now and think about all the things we did here. It has been really good to test because we have evaluated a lot of things and we are ready for the next race in Misano. Our lap times were fast but that was not our focus. All the same, I am pleasantly surprised at the lap times.”