Rea finishes final Aragon pre-season test fastest for Kawasaki

Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea concluded his final pre-season test of 2021 in fine fashion yesterday by topping a ten rider strong field with a time faster than his Tissot Superpole last season. 

Rea has the chance to claim an astonishing seventh title this year with Kawasaki, and the Northern Irishman looks in ominous form having finished the last three tests he’s been involved in fastest, including the Official WorldSBK test at Barcelona in early April. 

With the season opener at MotorLand Aragon in just three weeks time, Rea is already looking like a firm favorite based on the times and consistency shown from different teams and riders who have tested extensively at the Teruel circuit.  

Speaking after the test, Rea said: "I am super-content with this test. We managed to tick everything off the list we had, which we prioritised with race simulations. 

"I did one each day, at the time of day the races will be held - in fact we left them a little bit later, to the peak of the temperatures at 3pm. 

"We expect the race weekend will be a little bit hotter than it is now. We have a lot of good information about those. I used both rear tyre options, so we have a lot of good information." 

Rea goes into this season with a completely revamped NInja ZX-10RR after a winter of changes. 

Some of the areas that have been upgraded include the engine, chassis, and aerodynamics which also include a higher rev ceiling and internal front winglets that generate significant extra downforce at high speed.

"I want to thank the guys because they rebuilt the bike completely as we have been trying to understand where there has been some issues coming," added the 34 year-old. 

"So to rule everything out they have built me a completely new bike and they worked tirelessly. Kudos to all the team staff for this whole winter test programme. 

"Step-by-step we worked some more on my riding, some electronic items. But, more so myself, getting a rhythm and understanding how the tyre behaves over a lot of laps and setting up electronic strategies to utilise during the race. 

"It has been very busy but I am looking forward to going to round one in a few weeks’ time and seeing where we stack up."