The official SBK season start is moving ever closer and for Kawasaki it’s time for some general practice. The two-day test about to take place at Aragón will be the final pre-season session for Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes, who are ready to head out with the new ZX-10RR.

The development of the new machine has been somewhat hindered by bad weather, considering that the green team have seen a few of their sessions interrupted by rain, but this does nothing to kerb the current world champion’s enthusiasm. “The last test we went to there was productive, and we made some progress, but we never got the chance to do a full race simulation. That is going to be key, something we need to look at understand the bike in a race simulation, with a soft tyre and hard tyre”, comments Rea.

Rea: “I want to fine-tune the bike, weather permitting”

Aside from the desire to test his new travel companion over longer distances, ahead of the first real battle against Scott Redding et al., Rea outlines the work plan.

“We have put the pieces together but we have not fine-tuned the bike. We have not got the bike into the window where we are really starting to play with small items, like you would during a race weekend. That is going to be the focus of this test and I really hope to get some consistent weather. I really have to thank my team because they have pulled all the stops out to maximise our track time this off-season”.

Equally keen to get out on track is Alex Lowes, who will have a final chance to assess his physical condition before the hard work really begins, at the very same undulating Motorland track.

“These final tests are going to be the most important ones. We still have a clear plan which is following on from the last test where we only got half a day riding in with the weather going against us. So, we know what things we need to get ticked off the list before round one. I understand what I need from the bike a lot more this winter, which is allowing me to be better prepared for my second season with Kawasaki and KRT. Because of this I’m really excited to get back out on my new Ninja ZX-10RR.”

Translated by Heather Watson

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