The Teatre Nacional de Catalunya in Barcelona was the venue as Kawasaki unveiled its all-new Ninja ZX-10R to the press on Thursday afternoon.

Having dominated the 2015 season, with Jonathan Rea convincingly wrapping up the World Superbike Riders’ title and Kawasaki the Manufacturers’ crown, the Ninja of 2016 bears more WorldSBK-inspired technology than ever before.

The latest Ninja has been overseen by Yoshimoto Matsuda, Project Leader for KHI (Kawasaki Heavy Industries).

The bike sports a new in-line four which delivers 147.1 kW (200 PS), meeting Euro 4 regulations. There is a revised cylinder head and completely new crankcases, while acceleration on corner exit is promised to be better than ever with increased low-mid RPM power, a larger air box and revised gear ratios. As pointed out at the presentation by 2013 World Champion Tom Sykes, the engine of the new bike spins up more quickly thanks to a crankshaft with a lower moment of inertia; as a result, inertia has now decreased by 20% when compared with the previous model.

Amongst other things there are new electronic throttle valves, a new titanium exhaust system and a new frame with revised head pipe position. On a more visual level at the front of the bike, a new cowling offers the rider increased wind protection, while there are new brakes from Brembo and a new Advance Balance Free Front Fork from Showa; this suspension technology has come directly from the Kawasaki Racing Team in World Superbike, according to the feedback over the 2015 season from Rea and Sykes plus crew chiefs Pere Riba and Marcel Duinker.

“It’s been great,” says 2015 title winner Rea. “As soon as I rode the bike in November last year, I made some comments on areas which we should improve.

“Clearly, this new bike has addressed many of the problems we suggested. It’s a huge step forward in technology and I think, having ridden the bike in Portimao last month, it seems that the development of the production bike is going to be super good for us as a race model. We need good winter testing - because the bike is quite different - to understand the balance of the bike and get myself comfortable on it. After that, hopefully we can make a step forward with performance and try and go even faster!”

Rea and Sykes now return to their ‘day job’ as the 2015 World Superbike season meets its climax under the floodlights of Qatar on the weekend of 17-18 October.