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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

WSBK, Imola, ITALY, 12 Mayo 2017

Second And Third For KRT After First Day

The fifth round of the FIM Superbike World Championship kicked off in bright sunshine and warm conditions at Imola today, with championship leader Jonathan Rea (KRT) second fastest after two hours on track, and his team-mate Tom Sykes third fastest. Both have thus qualified for Superpole 2, which will take place shortly before race one on Saturday 13th May.

The 4.936km long Imola circuit is a venue both Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea have won at with Kawasaki in the recent past and today they continued their strong form on the Ninja ZX-10RR. Rea’s best opening day, and the second fastest so far, was a 1’46.694. That was just under the existing lap record pace and Sykes was just over the previous record on race tyres with his 1’47.125.
 
The second qualifying session was interrupted by a red flag after a  competitor crashed and his machine re-entered the track, blocking the potential path of any following machine. This unexpected halt and restart prevented Rea from making a full long run in one go but he is still confident that after some chassis set-up modifications overnight he will be in even better shape for Superpole, and the first 19-lap race of the weekend on Saturday.
 
Sykes, who is now recovering from an intestinal illness, used his qualifying time well and is also looking to Saturday’s FP3 session to implement some of the things he learned on his Ninja ZX-10RR today.
 
For both KRT riders it was a productive opening day in almost ideal riding conditions and they will each try to close in even more on Friday’s fastest qualifier Chaz Davies, before Superpole 2 commences at 10.55 tomorrow.
 
Jonathan Rea, stated: “In agility and handling the bike is working really well and it is really consistent. We just need more stability in the front - and we can only change that with more time. We worked with the spring balance in that second session and the more spring I had the more potential I was able to use. That means we need to change some bigger settings than those tomorrow to use all the potential on the brakes. I did an interrupted long run, because of the red flag, but in the last laps I did one of my personal best times. It looks like we can push the tyre a bit more and I have some ideas about that. I am optimistic but for sure we need to bridge the gap to the fastest rider from today.”
 
Tom Sykes, stated: “I feel my physical condition is not perfect but it is better than it was at Assen, which is good thing all round. I think, overall, today has gone relatively well. We have been working hard to evaluate some set-up and to be honest our race pace is pretty good already. We just have to understand a couple of more things in FP3 tomorrow but we have an acceptable bike balance. I am also learning and finding out a few new things on the track. Overall, that was a good day. Chaz’s riding style goes with the bike, and goes with this track. His speed is great here, so tomorrow we will try and improve again.”
 
2017 KRT Rider Statistics
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015 and 2016
2017: Races 8, Wins 7, Podiums 8, Superpoles 3
Career Race Wins: 45 (30 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 96 (54 For Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 11 (7 For Kawasaki)
 
Tom Sykes: World Champion 2013
2017: Races: 8, Wins 0, Podiums 6, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 31 (31 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 90 (89 For Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 38 (38 For Kawasaki)
 
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
4 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Sykes 2013, Rea 2015 & 2016), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
2 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016)
2 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015 & 2016)
 
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 98 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 321 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 66 – second overall