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Fastest after the two-day test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was more than pleased with his track time and worked on aspects of the setup of his bike without the stress of a race weekend. With the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship currently on a summer break, the six-time World Champion was on track alongside his other factory team counterparts and worked on a variety of things such as rider position, a new electronics software and then race starts and his technical inputs.

Rea topped both days of testing under the intense Spanish sun, with track temperatures soaring into the mid 50s on the first day, making grip at a premium. It was a circuit at which Rea struggled at in Race 2 in 2022, when he finished sixth and wasn’t able to live with the Ducatis, Yamahas and the Honda of Alvaro Bautista ahead of him. However, with testing concluded, Rea feels good with his bike and hopes to be more competitive at the Catalan venue this season.

“It’s been a solid two days testing,” began Rea, who was the only rider to set a 1’40 lap time across the two days with a 1’40.913, under the existing race lap record from 2021 but not faster than the March test at the circuit earlier this year. “We started on day one in the afternoon with the hot temperatures and I got a good rhythm for them. They were in the 40s and 50s so that was good to get the rhythm for that on Saturday. Then, step-by-step, we worked through the test plan. We didn’t have a new item to try but some ideas we’ve had during the season that we want to test without the stress of the race weekend. It’s good to check these things.

“One of the things we had to try was changing my position on the bike, to see the influence that made. We drew positive results from that and then we worked on the electronics, which we never stop working on. With some new software, we were able to understand how to take this forward. We have some great information from the two days but aside from that it was great to test in the hot conditions; normally, we’re testing in the winter time in the cooler conditions and I’ve been able to be quite fast and consistent in the hotter conditions. It’s an area we know we need to improve but the first signs are positive.”

Rea then spoke about the work done on practice starts, with the Ulsterman stating a change of style gave good results: “Then, on day two, we focused a lot on starts in the afternoon, trying to understand the best start setup from an electronic and mechanical point of view. More so, my technical inputs on the start; I use a lot, so I changed my style a little bit and we had some good results with that.

“I leave the test with a good feeling, and I enjoyed riding the bike in these last two days a lot; it’s been nice to break-up the summer break with my WorldSBK after going to Suzuka with a completely different bike. It was nice to come back to Pirelli tyres and my WorldSBK-spec ZX-10RR. Thanks to all the guys in what have been a hot few days and we changed a lot of things, but now we go back to base and get ready for Magny-Cours in a few weeks.”

With six rounds gone in the 2022 WorldSBK title race, six more lie ahead with three European rounds at Magny-Cours, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Portimao, before three overseas races close of the season: San Juan in Argentina, Mandalika in Indonesia and the highly anticipated season showdown at the returning Phillip Island, Australia. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) currently leads the standings by 31 points over Rea, whilst reigning World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) is clawing his way back into contention following a tricky start to 2022 in third, just 38 adrift of Bautista and with five wins in six races. Rea is yet to win since Race 2 at Estoril, back in May.

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