Rea: ‘Riding 2023 bike is good’, but warns ‘there are areas we need to improve’

Jonathan Rea clocked the only sub 1m 40s lap during the Jerez WorldSBK test, finishing two tenths clear of Scott Redding.

Robert Jones

05 Dec 2022

What was expected to be a two-day test for the Kawasaki Racing Team was instead reduced to a half-day of track action as poor weather affected proceedings.

Only Redding, who was testing a brand new BMW M 1000 RR took to the Jerez circuit on day-one, completing 56 laps.

For Rea, testing several new parts ahead of the 2023 season was the main objective, and despite the limited track time, the six-time WorldSBK champion racked up enough of an impression to be satisfied, although more work needs to be made in his estimation.

"It has been a very worthwhile test because we had to make decisions on some ‘hard’ parts for the off season, so that we can start in a good way next year," said Rea.

"We just had three or four of these important items to say yes or no on. Riding the 2023 bike is good. There are some areas we need to improve, because we are still doing the early work, especially from the electronics side.

"But step-by-step we will put the package together. The track was never in perfect shape as there were still some damp patches out there but we were able to make some decisions.

"I am happy to go into the off season healthy and happy. I look forward to a few weeks' holiday now."

Third fastest was Alex Lowes, who like his team-mate Rea was reduced to just an afternoon worth of running.

Four tenths down on the time set by Rea, Lowes racked up 50 laps across his different stints.

Speaking after his first pre-season action, Lowes added: "I felt good on the bike even if the weather was a little bit against us at this test, meaning we just got the last afternoon on track.

"When I started the track was still quite damp but we used this time to try some things that were not about overall performance.

"We had some new ideas for 2023 so I spent the next couple of hours ‘back-to-back’ testing some new parts, with some positives and some negatives on the rear of the bike.

"The good point was that we got a lot of laps in, so we have a lot of information to try to piece everything together to give us a good step for the test at the end of January."

The third and final Kawasaki rider to take part in the Jerez test was the returning Tom Sykes, who makes his comeback to WorldSBK following a tough 2022 season in BSB with Ducati.