Prosecco DOC Dutch Round: Kawasaki wants to return to victory

The Kawasaki Racing team started very strong at the start of the season, winning four of the six races held so far, but had to "abandon" the top step of the podium in Aragon, at the hands of an extraordinary Chaz Davies.

It goes without saying that Sykes and Rea's goal is to return as soon as possible, starting with the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round, scheduled for this weekend at the historic TT Circuit in Assen.
Jonathan Rea arrives in the Netherlands as leader of the standings, 26 points ahead of Davies, who is in turn three points ahead of Tom Sykes.

Looking at the precedents on this track, with the double in 2015 Rea has totaled seven victories here, second only to Carl Fogarty in WorldSBK.
Sykes has also already won at Assen, in 2013 in Race 1.

“I really like Assen and our bike works well here” – he explained Jonathan Rhea – “We learned a lot in Aragon in the third round of the season, especially because the basic set-up of the old bike also works well on the new one. If all goes well the weather conditions should be good for the whole Assen weekend and we will be able to maintain a good pace, give substance to our package and also to my riding. We did a good job at MotorLand, but we need to find the right way to win again. I don't know why I ride so well in Assen, but I really like the place. It's a circuit for real riders and, when your bike's set-up isn't perfect, you can make a difference. There are many corners here that require different approaches, such as finding the right braking point, the center of the corner and the exit. There are different techniques to apply. I also think it depends a lot on experience on this layout.”

“Assen is a circuit where I have often won in the past, I was very fast and concrete. After Aragon we know we still have to work. Marcel, my chief mechanic, and I have talked about it a lot and we will see how this weekend goes, but overall I had a better start to the season than last year” – he added Tom Sykes – “Everything seems to be going right. There are a couple of things in the set-up that we need to improve, but they are changes that we will use later. Assen is a circuit on which, and I say this as a driver, it is a great pleasure to race. It is a special circuit because there are very particular bends and this adds something special. We have good references from previous visits and I think the whole Kawasaki team will have a good racing weekend.”