The riders of the Kawasaki Racing Team, Jonathan Rhea et alex lowes, took to the track with their Ninja ZX-10RR machines on Friday December 2 to begin important preparations for the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship.
The planned two-day test at the 4,423km Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto has been reduced to half day, Friday afternoon, due to previous periods of wet weather. On an almost dry track, alex lowes et Jonathan Rhea have been working on various test items, just days after the end of the 2022 racing season.
Ultimately, each driver had enough track time to form an opinion on the new elements, Jonathan Rhea finishing as the fastest driver with a 1'39.911, set on lap 39 of 50.
alex lowes went out on the track first in the afternoon, on a wet but drying track. He also completed 50 laps in a single busy afternoon session, swapping between two bikes in the team's new winter testing colors. alex lowes was third fastest overall, with a best lap of 1'40.342 despite not quite perfect track conditions.
The next test for KRT drivers will take place at the end of January 2023, again in Jerez.
Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team Driver): “ It was a very interesting test because we had to make decisions on some “difficult” parts for the off-season, in order to be able to get off to a good start next year. We only had three or four of these big things to say yes or no to. Riding the 2023 bike is good. There are some areas that we need to improve, as we are still in early work, especially on the electronics side. But step by step we will put the package together. The track was never in perfect condition because there were still wet areas, but we were able to make decisions. I'm happy to enter the off-season healthy and happy. I'm now looking forward to a few weeks of vacation. »
alex lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team Driver): “ I felt good on the bike, although the weather was a bit against us during this test, meaning we just spent the last afternoon on the track. When I started, the track was still quite wet, but we used that time to try things that weren't related to overall performance. We had some new ideas for 2023, so I spent the next two hours testing new parts, with both positives and negatives regarding the rear of the bike. The good thing is that we've done a lot of laps, so we have a lot of information to try to put it all together to give us good progress for the test at the end of January. »
Riba pears (Jonathan Rea’s team leader): “ The test went well, because in the end we only had four hours. The weather has not been pleasant; It rained all day Thursday and it took a long time to dry out today, which is why we had those four hours. We needed to test a few things and get feedback from riders, as this needs to be developed over the winter. Finally, we were able to collect the information. Johnny rode fast and we only used an SC0 tire, a hard option, on the rear. It was quite regular in the times and we collected all the information we wanted. Now we are looking forward to next year. »
Marcel Duinker (Team leader for Alex Lowes): “ During the day we tried a few important things to improve for next year. After this half-day of testing, we have a clear opinion on most elements, which allows us to continue to improve for the January test. Having done this in just a few hours, we are very satisfied. We didn't touch the Phillip Island setup, not a click, and Alex was immediately fast and even more consistent. We are very satisfied with the results of this test. We can all enter the holiday season with a big smile on our faces. »
