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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

28 September 2018

Confident KRT Duo Lead Friday Practice

Championship leader Jonathan Rea (KRT) and his team-mate Tom Sykes went 1-2 after the first three WorldSBK practice sessions at Magny Cours, separated by 0.201 seconds at the end of Friday’s action. 

With warm and sunny conditions contributing to the smooth running of the first three sessions at Magny Cours, Rea put in a strong initial showing at the round that offers him his earliest chance to make certain of the 2018 Riders’ Championship.
 
Posting the fastest Friday lap in the first of the three sessions Rea used the second free practice session to try out different chassis settings, before reverting to his more regular bike set-up in readiness for Superpole 2 and then race one on Saturday. He set a 1’37.202 personal best in FP1, demonstrating sub-lap record pace at a very early stage of the final European-based weekend of the season.
 
Hoping to have the title in his grasp at this round, before the next long haul round at the all new venue of El Villicum in Argentina, Rea is now concentrating on having the best opening race possible tomorrow, by approaching it in the same way as any other race this season.
 
Both official Ninja ZX-10RR riders had a more than positive opening day in France, with Sykes second fastest and feeling comfortable with his current pace and machine set-up.
 
Sykes set his fastest lap in the second of three sessions, for an early KRT 1-2 that builds confidence for all inside the team before the first 21-lap French WorldSBK race, which is scheduled for 13.00, local time on Saturday the 29th of September.
 
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) placed 13th today, with  Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) coming through to 16th this afternoon after a heavy fall at turn 17 in FP1. Roman Ramos (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) was 17th, with late call-up as a replacement for Yonny Hernandez, Jeremy Guarnoni (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki), ending his day 19th of the 21 riders at Magny Cours.
 
Jonathan Rea, stated: “We started well here and my second crono was under the lap record, so it seems like our bike is working pretty well. In FP3 we put the best package together and made a long run. I walked the track yesterday and it was a little bit dirty, you could see that, but its seems like the temperature this morning was really good. It also seems like our bike is a little bit easier to ride at this circuit because in the acceleration areas we have more torque power than aggressive power. That is helping us a little bit compared to last year. But I cannot really explain it, it was just fast.”
 
Tom Sykes, stated: “Today looked alright and felt alright. For whatever reason, I have turned up here with a slightly more clear head and my recovery from injury in the summer break feels stronger. I am also a bit more ‘bike fit’ after the Portugal race weekend. I am ready for action and I just want to finish the season strongly. This circuit here in France is really enjoyable to ride, especially in these nice weather conditions. The layout is fun and fast. The circuit has four sectors and each of them is a little bit different.”
 
2018 KRT Rider Statistics
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015, 2016 & 2017
2018: Races 20, Wins 12, Podiums 17, Superpoles 2
Career Race Wins: 66 (51 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 129 (87 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 16 (12 for Kawasaki)
 
Tom Sykes: World Champion 2013
2018: Races: 20, Wins 1, Podiums 6, Superpoles 4
Career Race Wins: 34 (34 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 106 (105 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 46 (46 for Kawasaki)
 
5 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Sykes 2013, Rea 2015, 2016 & 2017), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
3 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017)
3 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016 & 2017)
 
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 122 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 372 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 79 – second overall
 
                                    #NinjaSpirit