Courtesy of KRT – Kawasaki Racing Team
Kawasaki Racing Team competitors Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes took part in an official Dorna World Organisation test session at Portimao on Monday 8th June, just one day after the end of the Portuguese round of the championship.
Rea was fastest in the morning test session, with a 1’42.661 lap time and only went to second place overall at the very end of the afternoon session, after he had completed his large workload on track.
Sykes was third fastest of all with his 1’42.682 lap but like his team-mate Tom concentrated his efforts on improving real race performance rather than just aiming for a quick lap time. He also worked through a selection test items and set-ups, with each KRT rider doing over 80 laps of the intense Portimao circuit.
The conditions at the 4.592km circuit were hotter than on raceday and with a run of forthcoming WSB venues that should also deliver hot track temperatures, this was a particularly valuable test.
WSB tyre supplier Pirelli brought several front and rear tyre options for the teams to evaluate, meaning this rare chance to test mid season, by regulation, also had a strong element of tyre testing included in the schedule of work.
Now the KRT team will focus on the next challenge, the Misano round of the championship, to be held between 19 and 21 June.
Jonathan Rea: “We got through our whole work plan and if testing today gave you points I think we would have scored 25, because we ticked everything in the box. There was a lot of work this morning for Pirelli, with front and rear tyres to get through. Then we had to evaluate some things to try in the front forks, the rear shock and some brake items as well. We have also tried other things to generate more grip. It has been a good day and I am really happy with the work we have done.”
Tom Sykes: “We went through many variables today trying to get the bike around this circuit a little bit better. We tried too many to think about really and overall the function test was very good. I think the lap times were more convincing than on raceday, even though we had a good package then. I want to thank all the mechanics. My crew chief Marcel had a big list of things to try so they were working overtime again. Overall, I think we improved our feeling a little and we can have a good debrief in the next few days and think about it. We have some hot tracks coming up and the best thing about this test is that we set our best time this afternoon, in hot conditions, on a tyre that was more of a consistent race tyre than one designed for pure performance. I am happy about that and hopefully we can transfer that to Misano.”
Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Jonathan Rea, commented: “We had a very tight schedule because before the test I did not expect this amount of work with Pirelli. They brought some new tyres front and rear. Maybe we could have cancelled some of the tyre options but we have to make the effort, as tyres are so important. We had to try them, especially the fronts, because Jonathan works a lot with the front end. It is his style and he needs really good confidence in the front. We made a good test for Pirelli and we also have the information for us. At the same time we followed our test plan. We had something from KHI to test, and from my side also some small items about suspension, just trying to understand for the next step. I am so pleased with the job Johnny did and he put in a lot of laps in one day.”
Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Tom Sykes, commented: “It was very hot today and we made over 80 laps with Tom. We have only one test day over most of the season so we had to make a very efficient plan. Out of the list of things we had coming here we selected the most important ones. We gave those things a good test and the race pace compared to yesterday improved. The track conditions were not better than yesterday so for that point of view I am happy. It is always good to test after a race weekend because you cannot have any better reference than that. For the second part of the season I am sure we have improved our package.”
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