British team-mates Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) head into the second half of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in the top two positions in the standings, and have some strong information from their summer test in their favour  as the series heads to the German circuit of Lausitzring.  

Reigning world champion Rea won race two in Germany last year, and with some strong set-up changes found over the summer he looks forward to developing his speed in the weekend ahead. Hoping to continue his stunning run of form seen so far in 2017, the 31 year old is looking forward to getting ahead and ending the season on a high.

“I am really excited to get back to racing again after the summer break," explains Rea. "Our test at the Lausitzring a few weeks ago was positive and I feel more confident about returning there after a difficult race last year. The track is very bumpy but we managed to find a good compromise with our setup and I feel good about our starting point for the weekend. During the break I prepared myself for the next phase of the championship. The target is to work in the same way we have been doing all season.”

Compatriot and team-mate Sykes is ready to race following a ‘short’ summer break, but he hopes to work on some bike improvements on his ZX-10RR. Heading into the weekend with some thoughts in mind on how to alter his machine, it will be interesting to see how Sykes performs around the 4.255km circuit.

Sykes explains: "We will go racing again now after a bit of a summer break. We had good test in Germany and gained some valuable information. We were on the back foot a little at this circuit last year so it is good to feel a lot more prepared going into the Lausitz race weekend this time. I feel my pace in our recent test there was in the ballpark. Now we just need focus our attention and fine-tune things a little. The summer break has not felt like a very long one, because of the travel back from Laguna, then the test at Lausitz and then the race weekend itself in a few days time. It does not feel like it was a massive break and it feels strange to be racing in August - and on my birthday weekend too!”

The Kawasaki Racing Team duo head into another pinnacle weekend for the Prosecco DOC German Round, which can all be followed on the WorldSBK VideoPass.