Rea and KRT Back In The WorldSBK Groove

Jonathan Rea and the official Kawasaki Racing Team have just completed their first day of track action at the Misano circuit in Italy since the global Covid-19 outbreak brought about an enforced halt to the 2020 season.

 

Jonathan was happy to be re-introduced to the power of his world-beating Ninja ZX-10RR machine today, in what proved to be warm temperatures and consistently dry track conditions. He also got used to a grippy new track surface that covers the entire 4.226km long layout.

 

Despite suffering a high-speed fall at turn 11 in the morning, where he was was unhurt, Rea returned to action soon after to finish his test in positive fashion, setting lap times inside the 1’34 bracket. 

 

‘New-normal’ working conditions were a fresh challenge at this test, given the restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Despite this unusual reality the team were able to make real progress with their planned workload while adhering to their strict safety guidelines.

 

Testing will continue tomorrow, June 25th

 

Jonathan Rea, stated: “Today was very productive and valuable because we were not in a rush to test so much and I was able to do a lot of laps and check a lot of settings. After the long break I was not so happy with the normal base bike setting this morning. They have re-asphalted the circuit at Misano and the grip level is so high – abnormally high – which means we have had to take some grip away from our bike to make it a little bit smoother. I had a crash this morning which I was able to rebound from, pretty fast. For day one I feel satisfied but we’ve still got work to do to be comfortable.”