KRT And Rea Test At Jerez

Kawasaki Racing Team rider Jonathan Rea made use of a clear weather window on Thursday 11 February to test the exciting new Ninja ZX-10RR at Jerez in Spain.

Rea set good lap times on the latest development of the new WorldSBK spec machine, despite lingering damp patches of asphalt around some areas of the circuit. He rode alone today, as his regular KRT team-mate Alex Lowes was unable to join him on track after suffering a small training injury to his shoulder on Saturday.

The final plan for this KRT track outing was for Rea to ride on Wednesday 10th but with wet weather arriving in the south of Spain the test was re-scheduled to start one day later, when track conditions had improved enough to allow meaningful data to be gathered.

Rea made use of the almost dry afternoon track surface and posted a total of 40 laps, with his best time of 1’40.6 being set on race tyres.

The next track outing for the KRT WorldSBK squad is scheduled for Portimao, in Portugal, on 4 and 5 March.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “It has been so nice to ride my bike after what feels like such a long time. I want to really thank my team for the huge effort to be here. Travelling in this moment is difficult for everybody. We intended to test on Wednesday but we got bad weather. We made another effort to stay and we got some productive laps in on Thursday. I thank them for the huge effort – everybody - and it was such a positive test. We had to confirm some items we had been working on in the off-season and I had a really good feeling. The track wasn’t in perfect condition because some corners were still damp but I was able to understand the bike, understand the changes, and give lots of good information and data to the engineers. It did not take me so long to get into the swing of things. I am leaving the test very happy with what we have done and I feel great on the bike. The work I have been doing at home has been paying off as well and I am looking forward to riding again.”