Rea raring for World Superbike testing return

Triple World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea says he’s ready for “a step-by-step” return to action at pre-season testing in preparation for the 2018 World Superbike championship.

The history-making Kawasaki rider is hunting an unprecedented fourth consecutive WSBK title this year and begins his on-track action at the two-day Jerez test tomorrow (23^rd January) before moving on to Portimao for a second test on the 28-29 January.

Rea is gearing up for the fresh challenge of the WSBK technical regulations shake-up with Kawasaki’s maximum rev limit initially set at 14,100rpm along with the parts development freeze.  

“After our last winter test of 2017 I remained very busy for a couple of weeks doing PR exercises around the world,” Rea said having completed a Kawasaki event at Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia. “It was a welcome break to go back to Australia, where we have just built a new home.

“It’s become part of my routine now to follow the sun during the off-season to make sure I arrive at the start of the season well rested and well prepared. It’s been amazing and I feel more excited and motivated to ride my bike than ever before.

“Jerez is a good testing circuit for us as we can confirm the items we tested here in November and continue to work on our 2018 spec ZX-10RR. We can focus a little more on fine tuning the bike and getting my brain up to speed again. With all this in mind, we will approach this test with a step-by-step philosophy.”

Rea enjoyed a record-breaking 2017 by securing a third consecutive World Superbike, the first rider to achieve the feat, while he also collected the most number of points in a single season with 556 beating the previous record of 552 points held by Colin Edwards from 2002.