Superbike, Misano Test: productive test for Kawasaki

After reaching 100 victories in the production-derived World Championship, Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea concluded two days of testing last week at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, scene of the next event of the season, the Pirelli Riviera di Rimini Round.

With a good number of laps under their belt at a constant pace, the two teammates left the circuit satisfied with the work done which will help them face the weekend from 16th to 18th June in the best possible way, when the spotlight will turn on the seventh round.

Sykes, who has been held back by some physical problems in recent months, is starting to regain his full physical fitness: happy with his pace and lap time at Misano, he has been trying different engines on his ZX-10RR.

“In short, we had good weather and were able to do a lot of laps” – he said Tom Sykes – “I think I did 103 laps on Wednesday and 55 on Thursday and we got some good results. I focused on the single lap and we worked on different parameters. I am very happy with our speed in Misano. At Aragon, Assen and Imola my physical condition was terrible, at Donington it improved and now I feel even better. This can also be seen in the 100 laps I did on Wednesday with a strong pace – after drinking two cappuccinos for breakfast, I went straight back to work today. I thank the team very much who were tired from Donington and after changing the engine and setting up the bike, they loaded them onto the truck and a few days later they were in Misano preparing the bike for me. They deserve applause."

The test was also very productive for Rea, in which he was able to try out different settings: Misano is a circuit that he really likes, where last year he achieved two victories.

“It was a valuable test and the weather was fantastic on both days. This means we were able to complete many laps” – he said Jonathan Rhea – “We didn't have any new elements to test, so we used this time to evaluate different chassis configurations, work on balances and get more information that will be useful in future races. The track seemed to be in good shape and we were quick with various types of set ups, so our bike is working well. All in all I really liked the bike and we were very consistent, so I'm looking forward to getting back on track. I want to thank all my team for their hard work in such hot weather conditions."

The Kawasaki Racing Team will now have a two-week break as the rest of the WorldSBK paddock returns to the track at Misano from 16-18 June to take part in round seven