After the opening rounds in Australia and Thailand the WorldSBK ‘circus’ returns to a base of operations in Europe this weekend. This will be the first opportunity to experience the 2016 weekend schedule in its full format, with all the support classes running for the first time, and WorldSBK races scheduled for their new regular start times of 13.00 on Saturday and Sunday.
Irrespective of what times the races have started in 2016 Kawasaki’s official team has risen to the challenge of turning the latest showroom model Ninja ZX-10R into a class-leading machine from the start of its model life. Now the riders and team staff return to one of their most frequently visited testing venues aiming for more strong results.
Rea is only five points from perfect so far, having to give way to a determined Sykes in the second race of the recent Thailand race weekend. Sykes is now second in the championship rankings, thanks largely to two podium performances in Thailand.
Such a successful start to the season for the Kawasaki Racing Team duo has already had a positive impact on their career statistics. Rea now has 32 race wins and 69 podium places to his credit. His 32 individual race wins place him a clear fifth in the overall race victory rankings, with only one more required to draw level with double world champion Troy Corser.
Sykes has now taken 27 WorldSBK race wins since his opener for Kawasaki in the 2011 season. He has earned 66 podium finishes in his career. In a happy accident of arithmetic this total of 66 matches not only the race number displayed on his Ninja ZX-10R but his total of championship points scored in the 2016 season so far. Sykes has also taken 31 pole positions in his WorldSBK career, which makes him the second most successful rider in terms of pre-race qualifying.
Both KRT riders have a good chance of moving their respective totals upwards again at Motorland Aragon this coming weekend as it has been a happy hunting ground for Sykes and Rea in the recent past. Rea took home a first and second place from the Motorland round in his championship-winning season with Kawasaki last year. Sykes proved a double winner in the 2014 WorldSBK series at the 5.077km circuit near Alcaniz in Spain.
Tom Sykes stated: “I am very much looking forward to getting to Motorland Aragon. Coming off the back of two positive rounds in Australia and Thailand, where in 2015 we were not that competitive, we were much closer to where we need to be this year. That makes me excited for the Motorland weekend. On paper we should be very strong in Spain because we have done a lot of tests there and had good results in the past. Considering our form and set-up on the latest Ninja ZX-10R only gives me confidence. I am looking forward to getting started on Friday. The best thing about the race win we took in Thailand is that I was able to adapt during the race. To change my style and still win was very pleasing. It has given me extra confidence and the plan is to build on this.”
Jonathan Rea stated: “After the positive start to the season we have had I am really excited to go to Motorland Aragon. We had a great test there in November of last year, with the new bike, and it showed it had a lot of potential. It is really be nice to go back to Europe and have the whole infrastructure around us. Motorland is a circuit that always produces good close races and some of our rivals are strong there. I remember last year we learned a lot from race two and we took a really good direction after our post-race debrief. Hopefully, we can put all we have learned from our previous experiences to good use and have a trouble free Friday. The first day on track has proved to be critical for set-up in the opening two race weekends of the year. It should be a good weekend at Motorland and it should play to the strengths of our bike.”
Other Kawasaki teams in the WorldSBK championship will be looking for season-best performances after the first two ‘fly-away’ rounds. Go Eleven Kawasaki and their lone rider Roman Ramos have been consistent points scorers in all four races run so far, leaving the Spanish rider 12th overall as he approaches his home round.
The Pedercini Racing Kawasaki duo of Saeed Al Sulaiti and Sylvain Barrier head for Motorland full of hope and expectation, with Barrier 20th in the current standings. Swiss rider Dominic Schmitter heads into action once again during his rookie WorldSBK season for Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki.
After the Spanish weekend all the teams will head north to the Netherlands, and the iconic Circuit van Drenthe in Assen, for round four. Race weekend will be held between 15 and 17 April.