Jonathan Rhea et alex lowes took part in a test day at Motorland Aragon in Spain, alongside many WorldSBK competitors, on Wednesday 30 August 2023. Due to restrictions on the number of test days each rider can use during a season, Rea and Alex only took part in the second and final day of private testing at Motorland Aragon. The team itself worked both days, however, since the regular test driver Florian Marino and MTM Team's full-time Kawasaki WorldSSP rider, Adrian Huertas, took part in the first day of testing on Tuesday, August 29.
With only one day on track for Alex and Jonathan, it was important to stick to plans and schedules for preliminary practice, as well as get back up to racing speed after a long summer break that began after the round of the 'Autodrom Most at the end of July. The WorldSBK racing season will resume soon and there will also be a round at Motorland Aragon, towards the end of September.
While Jonathan Rhea mainly worked on general settings and performances, alex lowes focused on some potential new features for next season, after Florian Marino evaluated them on the first day. Rea set his best lap in 1'49.101 and Lowes in 1'49.791. Jonathan Rhea was fastest overall and Lowes fifth.
The track conditions, warm without being scorching, allowed all riders to consistently evaluate the settings of their machines. As it was not an official race weekend, drivers were able to have more than one machine in their pits, which helped speed up the process of comparing settings.
Adrian Huertas rode at Motorland in recognition of his recent performances in WorldSSP and his victory in the WorldSSP3000 championship on a Kawasaki in 2021. The 20-year-old Spaniard set some very good times in his first test on an official KRT Superbike machine. He set a personal best of 1'51.044s, which put him sixth overall on day one – the only day he was on track on the official Ninja ZX-10RR. Adrian Huertas completed 79 laps in total.
Florian Marino, the team's regular test driver, continued to play a valuable role in on-track development, setting a personal best time of 1'51.689.
The next step for Jonathan Rhea et alex lowes will be the ninth round of the championship, which will take place in Magny Cours, France, from September 8-10.
Jonathan Rhea : “It was a positive day and I really enjoyed riding the bike again, especially after a long period of absence. I was surprised by the speed at which I was able to ride from the first lap, already in the 1'50 range. This set the tone for the rest of the test, as we were able to try some things that we will definitely see during the round at Motorland, namely settings. This day was more or less oriented towards a performance test, trying to understand our potential. We were always fast with the racing tires and in the end we tried a qualifying tire. We were quite competitive with our lap times today, both on the race tires and the qualifying tires. I leave this test with optimism that we can have a really positive weekend at Magny Cours. Thanks to the team for all the effort they put in to get here over the summer and it will give us a good pace for the rest of the year. »
Riba pears (Jonathan Rea's team leader): “The objective of this test with Johnny was to find the basic configuration that we will use for the race weekend, which is only a few weeks away. We worked calmly and did two different setups of the bike to understand which one to use. We evaluated the differences and found a direction for the best configuration. This is the work we wanted to do. We also tried a few new things and gathered information about them. In the end, Johnny set the best lap time, which gives us confidence. We are ready for the races. »
alex lowes : “It’s really nice to be back on the Ninja ZX-10RR after the summer break. I had a lot going on in my testing schedule. In fact, I had three bikes in the morning, to try different settings and some things for 2024. Some were very positive, others less, which is completely normal when we test new elements. It's more mentally tiring than physically, because you're really trying to think about the positives and the negatives. You want to make the right decisions now, so it can help us next year. I did 91 laps today, which is a good amount to get back into the swing of things before Magny Cours. I did a bit of riding at the end of the test on my 2023 base bike that I will ride next week at Magny Cours, just to get back into the swing of things.”
Marcel Duinker (Alex Lowes team leader): “The test was completely positive for next season. We have worked hard over the last two months to prepare for this test and we have made some improvements to the bike. The first day, with Florian, we tested every element of the bike. Step by step, with this new material, we improved the bike. Florian was really into it and as a test rider he was right in the middle of the WorldSBK riders which was very nice. With Alex, we followed more or less the same test plan on the second day. We removed a few items that were on the first day's list, and with Alex the plan was to do more laps on each item to understand not only the initial performance, but also the performance over a longer distance. We are happy with the results and we have collected a lot of information. We have two months left before we begin winter testing, which will allow us to make a few changes here and there to these improved materials, but we are happy with the results of these tests and things have gone as we expected. foreseen. Next week we will be heading to Magny Cours and we are looking forward to it. »
Adrian Huertas : “It’s a much more powerful bike than the one I’m used to riding. It's an impressive bike, an incredible experience and I enjoyed it a lot. It has a lot of power and I felt very, very good. It's a good thing for me. It was very different from riding a Superbike, but I worked with the team and they taught me to improve a little bit. I also gained some good experience which will help me on the 600. I think it will be very useful and it's like an extra motivation now. I think that when I arrive at Magny Cours for the WorldSSP, I will be able to fight for victory. I would like to thank the entire team for this opportunity. »
