After a week of testing at Jerez in Spain, Kawasaki Racing Team riders Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes set impressive lap times as they shared the circuit with some of the main 2017 rivals and several top MotoGP runners.

With a full five days of testing at Jerez from Monday to Friday complete, World Superbike Championship teams were able to get a head start on the New Year before the entire grid partakes in official pre-season testing from January.

Kawasaki Racing Team, Grillini Racing Team, Althea BMW Racing Team, Honda WorldSBK Team, Milwaukee Aprilia World Superbike Team, Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team and Aruba.it Racing all benefited.

With mixed conditions throughout the week, teams were able to test various 2017 parts and settings in different types of conditions the Jerez test gave everyone an all-round work-out.

Riding the 2017-spec Ninja ZX-10RR, Rea set the fastest individual lap time of the tests on a dry track on Thursday, with Sykes the third fastest World Superbike Championship rider and the fifth fastest rider overall.

After two tests in quick succession – at Motorland Aragon and then Jerez – the KRT squad has completed the 2016 sector of its overall winter test plan in positive fashion.

KRT was joined by several KHI staff at Jerez to help properly evaluate the new WSBK specification chassis and engine materials, which have been adapted for the recently launched ZX-10RR. Each rider had two machines to test, to allow for meaningful back-to-back comparisons.

The Jerez test for KRT featured three dry days in the middle of the week, bracketed by two wet days on Monday and Friday. Neither of the riders took to the track on Friday, as conditions had deteriorated so much.

Rea left Jerez with a track best of 1’38.721 while using a qualifying rear tyre with Sykes setting a 1’39.461, again on a ‘Q’ rear tyre. Rea was even more pleased with the 1’39.5 lap time he set on race tyres than his best-of-test flying lap of 1’38.721.

Rea had completed his pre-planned schedule by Thursday afternoon but a crash for Sykes earlier the same day lost him some track time just as his crew had fitted all the most promising new parts and settings to his number one machine. He still managed to complete a fast lap time on his spare machine and enjoyed consistent pace over distance.

A break in track action now begins for the team, with the winter test schedule restarting at Jerez on January 24.

“It has been a very successful test with three days of very consistent weather,” said Rea.

“We also got a morning of wet conditions in which we confirmed a few things, especially a new Showa rear shock. I have to thank all at KRT for giving us this long test and KHI for bringing some extra engineering staff. Thanks to Showa for continuing to develop new parts for us and bringing them to the track.

“We did two race simulations on Thursday that we were very happy with. We can go into the winter in great shape and with a lot of confidence for next season. Having the new Ninja ZX-10RR has let us fix some of our weaker points, as our engine is a little bit stronger than before, with some extra RPM. That is always an added bonus. We can be optimistic for 2017.

“Looking back on 2016 it has been an incredible year to finish off here with a successful test I want to say thanks to all my team and all my crew, everyone inside KRT and KHI for these last few days.”

Sykes (pictured above) was similarly satisfied.

“During the Aragon tests and also here at Jerez I feel we have been doing good work. For sure we have still not hit the nail on the head but the good thing is we are doing a lot of trial and elimination.

“Even here, where I was not entirely happy with my feeling, we managed to put in good lap times. Both myself and Jonathan seem to be able to do consistent lap times, which is promising. I had a crash on Thursday that stopped me using my preferred machine but still we were able to continue testing.

“We know we can do what is required on whatever set-up we have, but now we are going to have a few weeks to relax, refresh and recharge the batteries. I am confident that with the information we now have we can put the jigsaw together in January and start testing again from there.”

Combined WSBK rider times from the week’s test in Spain:

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team): 1.38.721

Chaz Davies (Aruba It.Racing- Ducati): 1.39.116

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team): 1.39.461

Marco Melandri (Aruba It.Racing- Ducati): 1.39.694

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse): 1.40.693

Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official Team): 1.40.985

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia Team): 1.41.048

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Team): 1.41.328

Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia Team): 1.41.692

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Team): 1.41.830

Photo courtesy Kawasaki Europe

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