KRT HOME ROUND NEXT FOR REA
Jonathan Rea takes part in what is a home round for the vast majority of Kawasaki Racing Team’s staff, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, between 5-7 May.
Jonathan has already taken part in private testing at the 4.657 long Montmelo circuit, located on the north eastern outskirts of Barcelona itself, on the last two days of March this year.
Barcelona hosts the fourth of 12 WorldSBK rounds in total, and the second in Europe, just two weeks after Rea scored two podiums at Assen in the Netherlands.
It has been a sometimes challenging season so far but Rea has already earned three podium finishes. After a total of nine individual WorldSBK races Rea is now fifth in the overall standings.
Although not the absolutely optimum circuit layout to cater to the many strengths of the Ninja ZX-10RR, Jonathan won the first ever Catalunya WorldSBK race for KRT, and once again in 2021 in the 10-lap Tissot Superpole Race race.
Weekend Schedule: (GMT +2)
Friday:
Free Practice 1 - 10:30-11:15
Free Practice 2 - 15:00-15:45
Saturday:
Free Practice 3 - 09:00-09:30
Superpole Qualifying - 11:10-11:25
WorldSBK Race 1 - 14:00 (20 laps)
Sunday:
Warm Up: - 09:00-09:15
Tissot Superpole Race - 11:00 (10 laps)
WorldSBK Race 2 - 14:00 (20 laps)
STATEMENTS:
Jonathan Rea said: “I am excited because it is the team’s home race weekend and there is always a good buzz around Barcelona. It is a nice track to ride. In the past it has typically been a difficult one for us but we had a good test there a few weeks ago. With this new direction of set-up with the bike, I feel like we can be more competitive there. We just need to see the way that it is going to be. It looks like the weekend is going to be consistent in terms of weather, which is always a bonus. I am looking forward to getting stuck in and seeing what I can do. We are going to have a lot of support from team personnel, their families, sponsors, etc., so it is an important race to be strong at. We will go step-by-step through the weekend and build a plan with Pere.”