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Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) topped the testing timesheets in first and second respectively on Monday at Jerez. Rea’s time of 1’40.815 was under the racing lap record. Sykes was also under the lap record and only 0.241 seconds behind his teammate.

“We had a very positive day, maybe the most positive of the season,” said Rea. “I spoke for a long time with Fabien Foret, who is helping me to improve my riding, seeing how I am attacking the corners in a different way. I am not a testing guy and woke up today with little motivation but step-by-step everything we were trying out was working. We were consistently fast all day and then, when we put all the items together we had been testing; we made a good step forward.

“We tested and refined some things in readiness for 2017 including some new front forks. Even with used tyres we were able to make fast laps. I was happy all day. Even in the hot conditions, we were able to be fast. I am very thankful to Kawasaki and Showa, and all my crew, who worked hard. Also to Pere and Paolo and to Fabien, who have helped me change my riding position on the bike. There were many positives today.”

The Spanish circuit provided dry and eventually warm conditions throughout the eight-hour long test session. Sykes set 93 laps and Rea made 56 circulations of the Circuito de Jerez. They both worked toward 2017 settings, with Rea using just one machine, while Sykes ran two machines back-to- back to allow for clear comparisons in chassis geometry. He also worked on settings to take into the final challenge in Qatar at the end of October. 

“It was a very busy test, lots of laps, and we had an opportunity to do a variety of things with the suspension and chassis set-up,” explained Sykes. “There were a couple of new tyres from Pirelli and also new electronics. I had two bikes so we could do direct geometry comparisons. A massive day of testing in dry conditions and it was really nice to have two bikes, as it makes the testing even more effective. The lads have worked hard all race weekend and during this test - and now they have got to prepare the crates for the flyaway round in Qatar. Credit to all those guys in the team and hopefully on the back of this test we can be even stronger in Qatar.”

Kawasaki Racing Team now head to Losail International Circuit for the final round of the season, where either Rea or Sykes will be crowned champion of the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.