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The Circuito de Jerez played host to post-race celebrations by Kawasaki as the KRT duo sealed the 2016 Manufacturers' Title for the Japanese constructor.

Heading into the round Kawasaki led the standings by 85 points over Ducati from 12 wins. Saturday’s incredible first race at the Circuito de Jerez that saw both Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea finish on the podium in second and third and as a result, the Japanese manufacturer came out as Champion.

Both KRT riders knew they would have strong opening races after Sykes had scored his eighth Superpole of the year this morning, with Rea just one place behind him on the grid. The race saw the duo battle it out for the lead early on before Aruba.it Racing –Ducati’s Chaz Davies stole the lead and won. But that couldn’t put a damper on the overall results as teammates Rea and Sykes celebrated Kawasaki’s second consecutive win together out on track in front of screaming fans at the Gaerne Spanish Round.

“It has been a big day for Kawasaki, and for them to win two Manufacturers' Championships consecutively is amazing,” said Sykes. “We have been building up to this for some years and with two strong riders in the team we are able to deliver. It shows the amount of effort and support they are putting into the Superbike World Championship. To finish second today with two really strong guys either side of me is not too bad but it is also not perfect. We need to find an answer tomorrow as we had a little bit of a battle with the front set-up of the bike today. Hopefully we can then match the pace of Chaz on Sunday.”

With three races remaining and a possible 75 points still up for grabs, Kawasaki aren’t giving up just yet as they now focus on championship goal number two- the World Superbike Championship- and Rea could clinch it as early as Race 2 on Sunday.

“After today’s race the thing on my mind was that it was better to consolidate our points and move on, to take one step closer to our ultimate goal,” Said Rea. “We had no traction from early on and some front and rear slides so for tomorrow we need to understand that. All in all I am happy to be on the podium for the first time at Jerez. We have just won the Manufacturers’ Championship today, three races out from the end, so that is another good point about today because it shows the hard work that Kawasaki, the team and all the staff have been doing this year, as well as last year. I am happy to contribute to that back-to-back Manufacturers’ World Championship.”

The KRT duo will be back out on track on Sunday the 16^th of October for Race 2 of the Gaerne Spanish round where they hope to be celebrating once again.