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The start of 2016 saw Kawasaki Racing Team begin the year as reigning Champions, and then set out to defend that title with a brand new ZX-10R. Riders Jonathan Rea, 2015 WorldSBK Champion, and Tom Sykes, 2013 WorldSBK Champion, got to grips quickly with the new machine and Rea won the first two Races of the year to begin his title defense in style – but none of the success has been easy. At Laguna Seca ahead of the summer break, WorldSBK.com caught up with Team Manager Guim Roda to talk about the season so far, the future…and the dynamics between Rea and Sykes.

“It’s a good period,” begins Roda as he thinks about the start of the 2016 season and his team’s current fortunes. ‘A good period’ is something the statistics certainly agree with, and the new ZX-10R seems to have picked up the baton incredibly quickly. “It’s never easy when a new product is introduced to racing because you have to test all the new ítems at the limit. You need to understand the limitations, the mileage and how to control everything as best possible…so it’s a lot of knowledge and experience you have to get as fast as possible. I’m sure that the base of the bike is so good, the potential is incredible but still we are in a learning process and I think in the next year and even the next two, you will see an even further increased performance of the bike.”

With KRT having taken more wins than any other team and their riders currently 1-2 in the points table, the success of the Kawasaki team doesn’t look set to be over any time soon. But with rivals fighting to catch up and the target firmly fixed on Provec as the target, Roda knows that nothing is guaranteed.

“It’s difficult to arrive at the front and even more difficult to maintain it,” he affirms. “When someone has a reference of where they want to get to as well, for them it’s much easier to catch up. So we need to understand how we improve ourselves and to keep getting into the first positions. But it’s something we need to accept – that sooner or later other teams or other bikes will arrive on the same level, and we’ll need to fight with them. But at this stage I’m sure something that will help a lot is the two fantastic riders we have. I’m sure they will make the difference and keep things in order on the last corner of the last lap to keep the first and second positions…”

The two riders in question – Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes – have taken the Ninja to another spate of wins in 2016, including a number of 1-2 finishes, and have dueled it out on track in some incredible two-horse races. What does Roda make of Rea and Sykes, and more than that, what do Rea and Sykes make of each other?

“Jonathan came into this season so strong after winning the Championship in 2015,” says the Team Manager of his current reigning Champion. “He has some limitations because he’s still not got 100% confidence on the bike, because it’s a new bike and not even the team and the technicians 100% know the potential. But he has been so consistent and scored the points, and this is a good mature style of riding that he has now. If nothing goes wrong, we’ll have Jonny for many many, years. With more than 25 races every year, many things can happen. We are here to try and win every Race but it’s never possible, so I just hope we can get the dream of more titles.”

Rea has been the Championship leader in 2016 from Round 1 at Phillip Island, at first chased by Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider by Chaz Davies – but it is Rea’s teammate Sykes who has now taken over in P2 after the Yorkshireman has gone through a good run of form mid-season and got back on the top step in style. The chase to catch his teammate is back on.

“Tom’s riding style is very good in some areas but then in others he needs to adapt the bike to himself,” says Roda. “He came into this season from a 2015 that wasn’t as good as 2014 and when you arrive like that it’s difficult. The other problem is that Jonny is so strong. So he’s now catching up in the rhythm again and has been there in the last 6 races. I think we can have two riders fighting for every Race in the next two years. That’s something that we can be very proud of. I’m sure the other factories will need to invest a lot to beat those two guys! So that’s something that gives us a lot of motivation to keep pushing.”

Both riders have re-signed with KRT, Rea first and Sykes more recently. With one of the best machines on the grid, so much success and a rider line-up of two Champions, surely the decision to keep the winning status-quo was an easy one?

“We spoke to a lot of riders; it’s our job to listen,” smiles Roda. “After Jonathan re-signed, our first priority was Tom and we waited for him to decide if after 7 years with Kawasaki he was motivated to continue. In the end, he was very comfortable to continue and we added a few details into the agreement. We are really happy to keep him two more years and especially to keep together two riders who in the end – whether they want to accept it or not – have a good combination on the performance side and one pushes the other. That makes the level the team can be at much higher in the future.”

So what is it like, having two starkly contrasting Champions in the garage?

“If I go and complain to some mechanics, nobody knows anything,” says Roda, amused but weary. “The problem is the media! If one rider says something small about the other, everything seems bigger than it really is. It’s something we have to deal with and we just try and advise them not to go too far in this kind of friction – it’s inside every team, even with mechanics and team staff there’s always tensions. It’s part of the game, and compared to some other teams here and in other Championships, we have less problems managing the riders.

“I think both the riders at Kawasaki have big respect for each other, not just for each other but also for all the effort because they know how difficult it is to arrive at this level, and how much it costs Kawasaki. This encourages us to keep working hard with them and give them separately what they need to win Races, then at the end when the chequered flag comes out see who is first. But for us, to see them so often 1-2 is incredible.”

The next chance for Rea and Sykes to fight for the win is at Lausitzring in September after the summer break. With the Northern Irishman ahead of Sykes by 46 points as the last four Rounds of the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship appear on the horizon, there’s still much to play for – and 8 victories up for grabs.