Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK riders, Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes, were unable to partake in a test session set in Jerez, Spain yesterday after rain affected the whole thing. Both riders and teams were expecting some dry conditions to develop their latest 2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, but wet conditions arrived and said, “Not today, fellas.” (more…)
The Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK riders recently concluded a track test session with the new 2021 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR. Despite mixed weather conditions, both Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes threw down some incredible lap times during the two-day test period. (more…)
The Estoril Circuit in Portugal witnessed the crowning of the 2020 WorldSBK world champion which goes to none other than Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK rider and defending king, Jonathan Rea. His sixth consecutive premier class crown was made official when he finished Race 1 yesterday in fourth place, which was enough to seal the deal for this year’s championship. (more…)
Kawasaki has always been about “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, especially in WorldSBK where Jonathan Rea has been dominating over the years with his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. For next year, they will introduce a completely new model to further extend their advantage against the likes of the Ducati Panigale V4 R and the newly introduced BMW M 1000 RR. (more…)
Five-time WorldSBK champion, Jonathan Rea, has signed a new multi-year contract with his current Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK squad. It’s rather unusual for any rider or team to commit for more than two years but if you’re as good as Rea (who took home the championship crown five years straight), your team would probably do the same to continue the fruitful relationship. (more…)
Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki has won the 2019 WorldSBK title – their fifth in a row.
Rea won Race Two at Magny-Cours, France, enabling him to pull clear of closest challenger Alvaro Bautista on the Ducati V4 R. Rea had entered Race Two with a 100-point lead over Bautista and needed a victory and a hope that the latter does not score to put the title chase beyond contention.
Somehow and true enough, Bautista crashed after tangling with Toprak Razgatlioglu. Toprak had overtaken Bautista but the rear tyre of his bike lost traction and slowed, causing the Spaniard to ram his bike. Both riders went down and out of the race.
But it wasn’t an easy win for Rea as he had to battle Michael van der Mark for the win. Rea fought hard and his determination netted him the win that he needed.
It was his 12th win of the 2019 season. But winning the title fives times in a row set the record as the first rider to do so, besides being the first rider to win the title five times. Carl Fogarty held the previous record of four titles, albeit separated by a seasons in between.
The victory will also become one of the most famous comebacks in racing history. Bautista had destroyed the entire field with 11 consecutive wins when the season began and held a 64-point lead.
But Rea kept up with a metronome-like consistency, finishing second in ten of those races and another in third behind Bautista. Then Rea fought back to post wins in Imola and Jerez. Bautista crashed in Race 2 at Jerez and that was when everything started to unravel.
The Spanish would eventually crash six times in total, first blaming the bike but went quiet about what was actually the problem. Then he inked a deal with Honda, and is now embroiled in a war of words with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali.
Rea kept up the pressure by winning races and finishing on the podium when he couldn’t, and look at where he is now.
Makes for a great movie, don’t you think?
Four-time and reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea and his Kawasaki team ended Alvaro Bautista and Ducati’s winning streak in Race 1 at Imola, Italy.
Bautista and Ducati have scored a perfect ten out of ten races in five rounds prior. However, Rea proved the spoiler when Bautista tried to adapt to the tricky Imola circuit. It was the latter’s first race there. Rea had been strong throughout the practice sessions only to be pipped by Bautista’s teammate Chaz Davies in Superpole for pole position.
Come race day, Rea took the lead as soon as the lights went out, but passed by Davies soon after. It looked like the pair was going to resume their hard battles and rivalry through the last few seasons. Unfortunately, Davies’s bike encountered a problem and forced the Welshman to retire. In so doing, he handed second place to Bautista.
A battle soon erupted behind them.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) sat in third, while Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fought up to 4thfrom 8thon the grid. Van der Mark’s teammate Alex Lowes followed in 5th, ahead of Rea’s teammate Leon Haslam. Independent rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Purcetti Racing) moved in 7th.
At the front, Bautista had no answer to Rea’s pace. The Kawasaki man began to pull away at 0.7s per lap.
On a day of seeing front runners suffering bike problems, Tom Sykes’s BMW started to slow and eventually retired. At the same time, Lowes started to slip backwards.
With the final position suddenly available, van der Mark and Razgatlioglu battled tooth and nail. The pair swapped paint and traded blows on the penultimate lap to the stage of colliding twice. But it was the Turkish rider Razgatlioglu who presevered to cross the line in 3rd.
There was no problem for Rea, conversely. It was his eighth win at the track and 72ndin WorldSBK. It was Kawsaki’s 128thwin in the series.
Race 2 continues today at 8pm Malaysian local time.
The Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK launched their line-up and bikes to continue their dominance in the 2019 World Superbike Championship.
Four-time and defending WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea and new signing Leon Haslam revealed the 2019 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR at a resort not far from the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Australia.
The circuit plays host to the final round of pre-season testing and the first round of the 2019 championship. The tests will take place next Monday and Tuesday, while the season opener begins later that weekend.
It goes without reminding that Rea absolutely destroyed the WorldSBK field last year with the Kawasaki. Out of 25 races, he won 17, placed second four times, once third and once fifth. He suffered only 1 retirement throughout the year, while the final Race 2 in Qatar was cancelled.
Despite the strong challenges mounted by his rivals Chaz Davies of Ducati and Michael van der Mark of Yamaha, Rea prevailed.
So, what made him such a powerful force?
“What I’ve learned with my experience over the year is to stay calm and focused with my team. We have the best crew in the business, the best motorcycle underneath me. I feel like the pressure is always on me, I need to find my way with the bike. Once we did that last year, we were absolutely unbeatable,” explained Rea.
Leon Haslam is back to racing full time in WorldSBK since 2015. Son of the great Ron Haslam, he shows that speed is in his family’s genes.
“I’m just waiting to wake up, it’s like a dream. I had 9 good years in WorldSBK but I’ve never had an opportunity like this. To be involved with KRT, Kawasaki, joining the team that has dominated the last four years… I just can’t wait, I want to start racing now,” he said.
Tune in next week and beyond as we bring you news from the world’s premier production racing series.
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