Guim Roda: "The Next Step Is To Continue The Same Level Next Year"
KRT Team Manager discusses success, challenges and season 2017
Kawasaki Racing Team were undoubtedly the most successful team in 2016, winning the Teams Championship, Manufacturers’ Championship and also the Riders Championship, where Jonathan Rea won and Tom Sykes came second overall. And while the team celebrated their victories in Qatar and Jerez, Team Manager Guim Roda didn’t revel in the festivities for long, as he looks ahead to the next challenge in 2017, as preparations begin for the coming season.
“It’s been an incredible season and the effort from everyone has been huge,” said Roda. “Okay we can be very proud and happy about our achievement but the next step for us is to continue at the same level next year.”
The 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship saw Kawasaki introduce the new ZX-10R Ninja, which was instrumental in Jonathan Rea’s success. Though the Northern Irishman led the Championship from the outset this year, it still took time for the team to get the most out of the new package, as evident by how close the Championship was at some points this year compared to 2015 and the fact that Chaz Davies had more overall wins than the Northern Irishman did.
“It’s always difficult to introduce a new bike and make it competitive in the first year because many things are new that you can’t control,” stated Roda. “There’re many new suppliers to work with and they need to work very quickly with no experience behind the new model, so I think it’s something much more difficult than people can understand from outside. The introduction of a new bike and for it to be a success from the beginning, from this point it clearly shows the potential of the base of the Kawasaki, otherwise it’s impossible. Also from the other side, I’m pleased how good everybody worked to reduce any possible mistakes on the race weekend and to make points at every race, to achieve the final result we had at the end is great.”
Davies was undeniably Kawasaki Racing Team’s greatest competitor this season, especially after the summer break. The Ducati rider ended the season having accumulated more wins throughout the season than Rea himself. Davies won a total of 11 races compared to the World Champion’s eight this season and Roda expects the Welshman to put up a strong fight next year saying, “I expect more or less the same performance next year and the same battle between Kawasaki and Ducati.”
