Without resorting to qualifying rubber Jonathan Rea scored the fastest time of the Jerez January tests on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, thanks to some small power lifts from his engine, work on his Showa rear suspension and a gigantic level of confidence and personal fitness after a winter spend training hard in Australia.
“I have been working really hard on my bicycle, and dropped some kilos, and also been in the gym a little bit. But there is nothing like bike fitness.”
Rea went and set his fastest time over both test days – a 1’39.809 – after a rare heavy crash that saw him have to change leathers and helmet and take an hour or two out. His toughness and determination to go again saw him back on top of the times, complete his test work, and finish the test relatively early.
He explained his final afternoon at Jerez, and his bounce-back after a turn three crash that looked set to finish his day, “Racing is a confidence game, especially when you are finding those last tenths. My dad (a former racer himself) always instilled in me as a kid that when you have a crash you should always try to get back out that same day, or as soon as possible. Sometimes it is difficult but if you understand exactly why you crashed – it happened because of this and the guys change this because it cannot happen again – then you can put it out of your head.”
Countryman Eugene Laverty also suffered a big crash after colliding with another rider at the Jerez test on his Aprilia RSV-4 machine.
By Gordon Ritchie
Rea, Jerez WSBK tests, January 2017