Important WorldSBK Weekend Coming For KRT
The Kawasaki Racing Team is about to head into one of the most important rounds of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship season with Jonathan Rea hoping to be crowned champion – for an unprecedented third time in succession – while his recently-injured team-mate Tom Sykes is looking to extend the championship fight beyond the limits of the French round.
Thanks to his fourth double win of the year, last time out in Portugal, Jonathan Rea enters the third-to-last round of the championship at Magny-Cours this weekend with a 120 point championship lead over his own team-mate Sykes. If he records two solid results in France on his Ninja ZX-10RR Jonathan will take a historic third championship in just a few days’ time, with two events remaining in the 13-round season.
Tom seriously injured his left little finger and radius in a practice crash at the previous round in Portimao and he will have to will undergo medical checks at Magny Cours before being cleared to ride. If passed fit he will take to the track on his official Ninja ZX-10RR on Friday to begin the defence of his championship challenge in Saturday and Sunday’s races.
After such a remarkable 2017 season so far, a campaign in which the official KRT riders sit 1-2 after ten rounds and have shared 13 wins between them, the biggest story of all may well unfold at a track that is no stranger to significant occurrences in WorldSBK history.
The French event is the 11th round of the season and will be held between 29th September and 1st October. Magny Cours has held 15 previous WorldSBK events, 14 of them consecutively since the 2003 season.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “I’m excited for this weekend, especially after such a strong weekend in Portimao where we remained for a day of testing after the race. We found some positives that we can perhaps implement this weekend to give me some extra confidence on corner entry. Magny Cours is a great circuit and one that I’ve been strong at in the past. The circuit itself requires a little compromise when setting up the bike and we will also have to keep in mind the weather, as at this time of the year anything can happen. This weekend is the first opportunity we have to try to win the 2017 WorldSBK championship. I want to put that out of my mind for now and go and do my best in both races. I’m confident with how the ZX-10RR is now, and that we can go and fight for race wins.”
Tom Sykes, stated: “I had a successful operation and now we are doing things on the medical side to make it as comfortable as possible for me to ride this weekend. We will play it by ear and on Friday we’ll try to build up to the full weekend of racing. Magny Cours is a circuit I generally enjoy. It is not a flowing circuit in terms of lots of lean angle, but it is a circuit where it changes direction though chicanes and has some stop-and-start areas.”
2017 KRT Rider Statistics
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015 and 2016
2017: Races 20, Wins 11, Podiums 19, Superpoles 4
Career Race Wins: 49 (34 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 107 (67 For Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 12 (8 For Kawasaki)
Tom Sykes: World Champion 2013
2017: Races: 18, Wins 2, Podiums 14, Superpoles 4
Career Race Wins: 33 (33 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 98 (97 For Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 42 (42 For Kawasaki)
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
4 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Sykes 2013, Rea 2015 & 2016), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
2 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016)
2 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015 & 2016)
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 104 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 341 – third overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 71 – second overall