Round Ten At Motorland Aragon
Round ten of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship will take place this weekend, between September 22-24, at Motorland Aragon in Spain. Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki Racing Team will look to repeat the podium success they had in Magny Cours, France last time out.
Jonathan recently undertook one day of testing at Motorland with KRT following the long summer break in the WorldSBK calendar. In addition to the programme of testing for the development of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, it served as the ideal opportunity to work on the initial set-up of Rea’s race machine ahead of the race weekend itself.
In the run-up to the final three rounds of the 2023 race season Rea has found improvements in his machine set-up after an unexpectedly challenging start to the year. Advances since that point have translated into a win and five other podium finishes in the most recent six individual WorldSBK races for Jonathan.
Rea has won nine races at the 5.077km long Motorland Aragon circuit in the past, his most recent in the 2022 season. With three rounds remaining on the 2023 calendar he sits third in the championship with 290 points.
Weekend Schedule: (GMT +2)
Friday:
Free Practice 1 - 10:30-11:15
Free Practice 2 - 15:00-15:45
Saturday:
Free Practice 3 - 09:00-09:30
Superpole Qualifying - 11:10-11:25
WorldSBK Race 1 - 14:00 (18 laps)
Sunday:
Warm Up: - 09:00-09:15
Tissot Superpole Race - 11:00 (10 laps)
WorldSBK Race 2 - 14:00 (18 laps)
Jonathan Rea, stated: “Aragon is a really cool track, It’s one that I really enjoy and very challenging for a rider. I have got great memories there from the past and in fact the first ever time I rode the Ninja ZX-10R was in Aragon and I fondly remember the first laps. I hope to recreate that feeling where I really enjoyed the bike. We had a test there during the summer break and it was positive. I felt fast and consistent. Since the middle part of the season we have started to find some momentum with bike set-up. We have been working well as a team and we have been able to challenge for podiums. It is important to be strong but also consistent. We have two race weekends on the bounce now and the target is to maximise our opportunities to fight for podiums and continue scoring big points.”