Donington betrayed Jonathan Rea's expectations: in hot weather, the Kawasaki goes into crisis. Will Most be Toprak Razgatlio’s hunting ground?ğread?
What will the weather be like next weekend in Most, Czech Republic? Since it became clear that Jonathan Rea's Kawasaki is suffering badly from the heat, the weather has become an important factor in World Superbike racing. Misano and Donington, the most recent rounds, were a bed of thorns for the six-time champion. With the hot asphalt, the Ninja cannot exploit the SCX tire as effectively as the Yamaha of Toprak Razgatlioğlu and the Ducati of Álvaro Bautista. The fact was already apparent last year, when Jonathan Rea often tried to change the trend by opting for the medium SC0. However, it proved impossible to fight against the talented Turk by giving him even a 2 or 3 tenths advantage due to a tire. So this season, Kawasaki always started with the SCX. But when it was very hot, like at Misano and Donington, even with the same tire, Toprak was not attackable.
The Ninja does not fly with the tender.
In 2021, Kawasaki was hamstrung by the lap restriction announced just three days before the start of the championship. Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes had carried out all their winter testing with the limiter set at 15 rpm, but then had to adapt to the 100 authorized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, due to a homologation error made by the Akashi brand. In addition to the loss of power, the reduction had completely unbalanced the ratios: in Superbike, the internal ratios of the gearbox must be the same for the entire championship, they are therefore calculated in the simulator trying to find a compromise valid for everyone the circuits. With 14 revolutions less, everything went wrong and this (serious) problem somewhat masked the others. Now, with the same 600 rpm but the gearbox calculated accordingly, the bad chemistry between the Ninja and the SCX tire came through loud and clear.
Is there a solution?
« On Friday at Donington we were very strong on asphalt at 35°C, but on Saturday and Sunday we raced with 48°C and something didn't go as planned », admits Pere Riba, Jonathan Rea's chief engineer. “ We recently went to ride in Aragón, in very hot conditions, precisely to try new solutions that would allow us to progress. Although we have tons of data and a lot of experience, we are still learning about this aspect particular. » The results of the British round, a second and a third place with a Toprak who proved intractable, show that there is still a long way to go...
Watch out for the weather
Weather forecasts several days away are not very reliable. According to the current forecast, clear skies are expected for Saturday and Sunday in Most, with air at 26-27 °C. These are exactly the same conditions as last year, when we raced with asphalt at 39°C (race 1) and 37°C (race 2). This is well within the range of optimal use of the standard SCX, not to mention that in the Czech Republic Pirelli will once again bring the SCX 'evolution' with which Álvaro Bautista (+17 points in the world championship) made the difference to Misano. Jonathan Rea therefore risks having to ride on the defensive again, his two rivals in the race for the world championship being more comfortable with the soft tires. Last year, Toprak (now -43 points from the lead) won race 1 and the sprint, while the Ducati with Redding won the last challenge. The Cannibal fell twice in the first, then was forced to pull the reins of the boat. Kawasaki will have to pull the rabbit out of the hat, or hope the skies darken...
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