Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes 'excited' for Official WorldSBK test

Defending champions Kawasaki continue their quest for seven as preparations ramp up with the only Official pre-season WorldSBK test in Barcelona.

Robert Jones

30 Mar 2021

Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes bike, Estoril WorldSBK 2020
© Gold and Goose

Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes will test themselves against the competition for the first time in 2021 as Official testing rolls into Barcelona.

Rea goes into the new campaign looking for an astonishing seventh title in succession, while Lowes is building up to his second season with the Japanese manufacturer.

Both riders have already begun testing and evaluating the latest Ninja ZX-10RR, with Rea riding in Portimao a few weeks ago and Lowes last week at Jerez.

Lowes could not take part at Portimao as he continued his recovery from a training injury, hence why Kawasaki organised a two-day private test.

Rea and Lowes have been speaking ahead of the first Official WorldSBK test where both will get a chance to see how their performance shapes up to the likes of Ducati and Yamaha.

Rea said: "It is an exciting time because although the start of the season seems far away this is the first official test where all our competitors will be on track together.

"So it will really feel like the start of the season. We have been focused in the off-season on developing our new Ninja ZX-10RR and step-by-step getting a good feeling.

"Barcelona is also a track that I have not done so many laps of in the past, but we raced there last year. We will keep understanding the track, all the needs, and it is my team’s home venue.

"We will arrive with our new visuals and colours as the team launch will occur just before the tests start. It will be exciting and I can’t wait to get started.

"I feel really well-prepared and I’m looking forward to carrying on what we have been doing in the last few months."

Having not had the same amount of track time as his team-mate, Lowes is still looking to confirm some areas of the bike with corner exit and the base setting the key points he highlighted.

"We have two or three important things to try, especially on corner exit. We are looking to finalise our base setting for the year so that is the priority at this Montmelo test," added Lowes.

"Obviously we will also continue development of the new Ninja ZX-10RR, not only based on what we did in the recent test but also what we did in November last year.

"It is going to be great to get back out there with all our competitors. Montmelo is a track that I did not go well on last year so this is going to be a great opportunity to test and improve on that.

"It is also a track that I really enjoy, even though I do not have that much experience on it. I really like the 2021 graphics for the KRT and Kawasaki racing project - I think they are great - so I am keen to see how it all looks on track and how it comes out in the pictures."