WSBK: Full Steam Ahead For Kawasaki

Fresh from securing both the riders’ and the team championships in 2018, the Kawasaki Racing Team stole the headline times at this week’s World Superbike test.

Kawasaki, much like their Italian rivals Ducati, brought their new 2019 challenger, the ZX-10RR to Jerez, although as far as the Japanese manufacturer is concerned their bike is an evolution of the previous contender – rather than a full scale revolution.  

Jonathan Rea needed next to no time to adapt to his new bike, setting the fastest lap times each day, with a best overall time of 1’38.713 – more than half a second faster than his nearest rival. The 4x world champion focused primarily on finding a balance between the chassis’ capabilities and the engine. In anticipation of the new Ducati, Kawasaki have built a new and more powerful motor, to negate the Italian marque’s traditional straight line advantage.

If the news that Kawasaki have improved their engine power isn’t cause for alarm with their rivals, the words from Rea’s crew chief, Pere Riba, will certainly make them sit up and take note. Speaking following the end of the second day, Riba stated that: “Everything we wanted to achieve in this test has been done. We now go back (to the factory) and work on the parts through the winter. When we return in January we will have made a big step forward. We never relax.”

Whilst Rea was picking up from where he had left off, on the other side of the garage was still adjusting to life with the team’s new rider. Fresh from his debut test outing with the team at Aragon a fortnight ago, British Superbike champion Leon Haslam endured an eventful two days.

The 35-year old suffered a heavy crash on Monday, which resulted in him having to use his spare bike for the remainder of the test. Tuesday saw a much improved Haslam on the time sheets, perhaps attributed to the rider’s change in philosophy when he spoke to the media saying: “I must adapt to the bike, not have the bike adapted to me.”

Nevertheless, he completed over 100 laps this week (the only rider at Jerez to achieve this milestone) and with the time sheets showing an increasingly competitive return both he and the team can head into the winter break knowing that they are in a very strong position for 2019.