Official Test Next For KRT
Jonathan Rea takes part in an official two-day WorldSBK test session at Phillip Island in Australia, starting tomorrow, Monday 20 February, to make final preparations for the opening rounds of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship. Round one of 12 round series will take place next weekend, 24-26 February, at Phillip Island with the second round quickly following the week after at the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia.
With both the official test and the opening round taking place at Phillip Island it is a happy return to a familiar schedule of previous WorldSBK seasons in 2023, after the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The 4.445km long circuit in the Australian State of Victoria provides some unique challenges to the riders and technical staff. A fast circuit in general, Phillip Island’s heavily left-handed layout places great stress one side of the tyres, making a consistent machine set-up particularly important in order to challenge for the podium places over full-race distance.
With some improvements found in the overall performance of the Ninja ZX-10RR during the winter, and with Rea having won for Kawasaki at ‘PI’, the team is now looking to the official test as the final chance to make important refinements before the action starts for real.
The test days will feature four WorldSBK track sessions, as the headlining championship category alternates track time with the FIM Supersport World Championship.
WorldSBK Test Schedule - GMT +11
Monday 11:10 - 13:10
15:40 - 17:40
Tuesday 09:10 - 11:10
13:40 - 15:40
Jonathan Rea, stated: “It is so nice to be on Phillip Island to start the year. It feels like a normal season and as it is the first official test of the year, that means we get to ride in our new livery. That brings a lot of motivation because the bike looks really cool. We will start to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I have good memories of this track from last year, so I have to keep working with my guys and hopefully we can have a nice couple of days working to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before race weekend begins.”