Kawasaki Racing Team Gets Set To Start Winter Testing
The first real step towards the 2015 FIM Superbike World Championship campaign for the official Kawasaki Racing Team will begin in a few days, during the first winter test at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Northern Spain. The tests will be held between 17 and 18 November.
Long time KRT runner Tom Sykes will have a new riding partner in Jonathan Rea for the next campaign and both will have their first chance to sample the full 2015-spec Ninja ZX-10R at the impressive 5.344km long Motorland Aragon circuit during the imminent two-day test.
A host of new technical regulations will come into force in WSBK for 2015, including a reduction in permissible levels of engine tuning and a limit on the cost of electronics and other key racing components.
The team will also run its – by now traditional – winter testing livery at Motorland. This year it features a redesigned snowflake logo, with the Japanese word for winter depicted at the centre.
After the Motorland Aragon tests the team will relocate to Jerez for more 2015 track preparations, starting on Monday 24th November.
Tom Sykes commented, “I am very excited and cannot wait to get going again. We are straight back into testing next week and it feels like it will not be long until we are heading back over to Australia, because this season finished very late. We have made some alterations to the Ninja ZX-10R to allow for changes to the regulations next year, so I am looking forward to doing a bit more development. The bike for 2015 has come on a long way since the first time it was ridden and we can start working on it exclusively from now on. David Salom did a great job on the Evo Ninja ZX-10R this year and obviously we will use some of that information to help us progress.”
Guim Roda, Team Manager KRT, commented: “We will start our new season, officially, in Motorland, with two KRT riders on the bike. Of course, we started to work on the 2015 season machine in May, but the real starting point is the 17th when Tom and Johnny test new items to suit the 2015 technical rules. We are more motivated than ever to fight again for the title and we have the best weapons we could wish for at our disposal. Tom is really strong in his mind and has a clear idea to continue improving next year. Johnny starts a new challenge with green power and I know he is really excited. We are sure fair competition between both of them on track will improve his performance a lot. I’m really excited to see how competitive they will be in the first test and curious to see our level compared to the other manufactures and riders who will line up for first race in Australia. By that time we will have made our British weapons fully ready on the green Ninja ZX-10R ‘KRT-R15’.”