Better hurry up and get my road licence so I can take advantage of the Carole Nash Insidebikes price promise ! They’ll pay any biker £10 if you can find a cheaper car insurance renewal than theirs. #DriveLikeABiker
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
Tag Archives: WSBK
Rain stops play for most at Aragon WSBK Test | Rea quickest
Ducati V4R takes to wet Aragon track on day two
KRT and Yamaha sits out the rain after Rea set day one pace
The first 2019 pre-season test came to a wet end at Spain’s Aragon circut, as heavy rain in the morning meant only two out of six riders took to the track on Thursday. But it wasn’t a wasted day as the Ducati Panigale V4 R was able to take to the track for the first time under wet conditions.
Continuing to understand their new bike, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took to the track for 22 laps, despite being careful to not cause more issues with his shoulder. Experiencing the all new V4 R in the rain for the first time, it was important to get as much track time under his belt as possible.
Chaz Davies
“Despite the forecast, yesterday I was hoping we might get lucky and have a dry track in the morning, but unfortunately it wasn’t the case. The day started and finished wet. We had to ride in the rain at some point anyway, so that’s what we did today and actually it went OK. I wasn’t looking for the limits of the bike in these conditions, keeping also an eye on my shoulder, but we still managed to tick off a few items on our list. We’ll start in Jerez from where we finished here. We have a good base to begin with and our ideas are quite clear, which is the most important thing at this stage.”
Serafino Foti, Team Manager
“Overall the test has been positive, even though unfortunately conditions weren’t ideal today. We still did a few laps in the wet to verify the behavior of the Panigale V4 R, collecting important information while at the same time avoiding unnecessary risks. We’ll head directly to Jerez from here to continue our development program, hopefully in more favorable weather. We want to make the most of the last testing days before the new year.”
For Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team), he was keener to get out on track and try out the V4 R in the rain, and the track began to dry in the early afternoon. Following a sensational opening day with his new bike, he was just making the most of the time he has, as in 2019 the Italian will not only have a new bike to contend with but also new circuits. Rinaldi was able to put in 25 laps on Thursday.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action at Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), where Alvaro Bautista will make his debut alongside Davies, on November 26 and 27.
After topping the unofficial timing screens on the opening day around Aragon, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and his new team-mate Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) opted to sit out of Thursday’s on track action. Putting in 139 laps between them on the opening day, they will now shift their focus to the Jerez test in 10 days’ time.
Rea’s technical crew had used this test to make back-to-back comparisons between the 2018 and 2019 official WorldSBK machines, with Rea stating that he feels there is a lot of potential in the new bike already. Rea set his fastest lap times on the 2019 machine.
Jonathan Rea
“Day two of our test was cut short by wet weather so we were not able to refine the base set-up of our new 2019 Ninja ZX-10RR – but first impressions were positive after back-to-back tests with the 2018 machine. It is clear that the potential of the 2019 bike is much higher. To achieve that potential we need to delve into more set-up changes and that will require more time. It needs a bit more of a base setting because the new engine character has more power and more potential, especially under acceleration and on the brakes. That requires a little bit of a different riding style, so I need to understand that together with all my crew, in the next weeks. It was a simple back-to-back test here but in Jerez we can start to test more items with the chassis, electronics and some engine components.”
Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Jonathan Rea
“Our test was good. With our new engine upgrade we have some new parts and it ‘talks’ differently to the rider. That needs time for us to understand how to give the best to Johnny, especially in terms of feeling. Apart from that, his lap times were really fast and we have already collected positive information. It is a shame that is was raining today and we decided not to test in the wet. All the items we needed to try need dry conditions, or else you cannot understand them properly.”
Leon Haslam set an impressive 1’51.479 lap on his first day back in the paddock he knows well from his earlier WorldSBK career. Rains arrived early today and continuing throughout, so the decision was made not to take to the track.
Leon Haslam
“The test was positive and I am getting to know all the guys in the team. We missed some track time on the opening day, but even then it could have not gone any better. We got quicker each time we went out and the pace was quite competitive, considering we were not looking for that. We were just evaluating and understanding things. We are taking it step-by-step and we have another two days at Jerez to test again before the winter break. So far, so good.”
Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Leon Haslam
“I was very happy and confident from the very beginning of the tests. We have a BSB champion in our house with a lot of experience on different bikes, different championships and different tyres. Day one went very well. We had two different bike set-ups to put us in the correct direction for chassis development. He clearly chose one of them and with some minor changes towards the end of day one, Leon was in the ballpark with our closest competition, who had won several races in the past few years. So from this point of view I am very happy, but unfortunately day two was wet. After this single day on track and with the positive results, we are confident we will continue doing well in Jerez.”
The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team duo of Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark also decided to sit out of day two of the test.
Lowes was able to set the second fastest unofficial time of the test on Wednesday, and they were able to work through a lot of small updates to their YZF-R1 machines with chassis, suspension and electronics.
Times from MotorLand Aragon Day Two (Wet)
- Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 2.04.513
- Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Ducati) 2.07.961
Times from MotorLand Aragon Day One (Dry)
- Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1.49.668
- Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) 1.51.157
- Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 1.51.180
- Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1.51.479
- Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Ducati) 1.51.656
- Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) 1.51.852
Images by GeeBee
Source: MCNews.com.au
Day two of our test was cut short by wet weather so we were not able to refine the base set-up of…
Day two of our test was cut short by wet weather so we were not able to refine the base set-up of our new 2019 Ninja ZX-10RR – but first impressions were positive after back-to-back tests with the 2018 machine. It is clear that the potential of the 2019 bike is much higher. To achieve that potential we need to delve into more set-up changes and that will require more time. Its need a bit more of a base setting because the new engine character has more power and more potential, especially under acceleration and on the brakes. That requires a little bit of a different riding style, so I need to understand that together with all my crew, in the next weeks. It was a simple back-to-back test here but in Jerez we can start to test more items with the chassis, electronics and some engine components. http://jonathan-rea.com/news/jonathan-rea-completes-first-winter-test
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
Learning my new ZX-10RR. Step by step I will fall in love with her! #team65 📸 @geebeeimages
Learning my new ZX-10RR. Step by step I will fall in love with her! #team65 📸 @geebeeimages
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
Back to work we go! . . . . Alpinestars Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Arai Helmets UK Oakley…
Back to work we go!
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Alpinestars Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Arai Helmets UK Oakley Insidebikes GSP Media
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
Davies rides Panigale V4 R amongst WSBK competition
New Ducati V4 R hits track for the first time alongside WSBK competitors
Reigning WSBK champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has put in a strong opening day on track around MotorLand Aragon, ending the first day of winter testing fastest as unofficial times were recorded at the Spanish circuit. But it was Ducati stealing the headlines, with the debut of the V4 R.
Beginning 2019 with an all new ZX-10RR, Rea was able to use the opening day to work on different settings as he looks at which direction to take for what is set to be a competitive season, putting in 72 laps and the fastest unofficial time.
New team-mate Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) prepares for his debut with the Provec squad, and has been working on getting the first kilometres under his sliders. With 67 laps put in on his opening day, it has been about working on set-up of the championship winning machine.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made his all-important first steps with the Panigale V4 R, taking to the track in the morning he began to understand his new beast. The Welshman completed 61 laps in total, with a personal best of 1:51.180. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action tomorrow with Davies for another day of testing ahead of its first collective outing, with Alvaro Bautista alongside Davies, at Jerez (Spain) on November 26 and 27.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 1:51.180
“It was really exciting to take the Panigale V4 R out on track for the first time, it felt like Christmas, when you get a wonderful new toy to play with. Usually it takes me a bit of time to learn and understand a new bike, but honestly it felt the opposite today. I was really comfortable straight away, after the first out lap I felt like I wanted to push immediately, which is pretty cool. Overall, it was a really positive day, we’ve made a lot of steps forward and finished most of the work on the ergonomics. We have plenty of new things to evaluate and lots of data to process. The main goal today was to get progressively more comfortable with the bike and start tailoring it to our needs. Tomorrow, we’ll keep the same approach, working on the basics and refining little things before we start to push harder and understand the full potential of the bike a little bit better.”
Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team had their duo of Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes out on track, as they spent day one of 2019 evaluating some key components in the chassis, working on suspension with Ohlins and working with some new electronics hardware. Lowes set the second unofficial fastest lap time, and with 76 laps recorded he wasn’t wasting the track time he was offered. Whilst van der Mark recorded 72 laps throughout day one.
It wasn’t only Davies who got the first test of the V4 R, as Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) was out on track with the powerful beast. Getting used to the sensational new bike, he spent his day working with the Aruba.it Ducati squad as well as his new BARNI team and put in 74 laps around MotorLand.
Unofficial times from MotorLand Aragon
- Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1.49.668
- Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) 1.51.157
- Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 1.51.180
- Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) 1.51.479
- Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing) 1.51.656
- Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) 1.51.852
Image by GeeBee
Source: MCNews.com.au
HRC returns to WorldSBK grid in 2019 at Phillip Island
Ducati’s V4 R & BMW’s new S 1000 RR to feature in 2019
The 2019 WorldSBK season is shaping up to be one to remember with the year to kick off at Phillip Island’s season opener in Victoria, Australia, with a massive grid that will boast the return of the Honda Racing Corporation, as well as Ducati with the new V4 R, and BMW championing the new S 1000 RR.
World champion Jonathan Rea beware! That’s the message ahead of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship opener at Victoria’s Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit from February 22-24 following a massive week of grid-strengthening announcements for the production-based series.
Ducati and BMW unveiled their new V4 R and S 1000 RR four-cylinder machines at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan on November 5 and 6 respectively.
In Ducati’s case it’s the most powerful motorcycle to ever leave its factory, and the company – which has the most amount of WorldSBK titles with 14 – has already announced that current MotoGP rider Alvaro Bautista will join Chaz Davies in its line-up for 2019. Bautista finished a superb fourth in the recent MotoGP round at Phillip Island filling in for the injured Jorge Lorenzo, which will give the Spaniard added confidence when he returns to Australia.
BMW also announced in Milan that it will be collaborating with Shaun Muir Racing (which ran the Milwaukee Aprilia squad in 2018) for a major tilt at the 2019 WorldSBK title. The riders will be Rea’s erstwhile Kawasaki teammate and 2013 world champion Tom Sykes, as well as German Marcus Reiterberger who is returning to the championship after a two-year break.
BMW Motorrad Motorsport will be responsible for the development of engine, electronics, chassis and aerodynamics on the new S 1000 RR.
Meanwhile, HRC will return to WorldSBK competition in 2019 alongside Althea Racing and Japanese high-performance firm Moriwaki Engineering, with Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari the two riders. Camier has already been campaigning the Honda CBR1000RR SP2 in 2018, while Kiyonari will be returning to the series for the first time since 2009.
HRC was once a regular on the WorldSBK trail and won three titles with John Kocinski in 1997 and Colin Edwards in 2000 and 2002.
The gifted Rea, who is based in Australia during the summer with his Phillip Island-raised wife Tatia and their two sons, will certainly be keeping a keen eye on recent proceedings as he prepares to campaign alongside a new teammate in 2019: current British superbike champion Leon Haslam.
Other confirmed riders for next year include factory Yamaha pair Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes, while the GRT Yamaha satellite team will field recently crowned world supersport champion Sandro Cortese and Italian Marco Melandri.
Italian Michael Ruben Rinaldi will also ride a Panigale V4 R for this year’s leading independent team, Barni Racing.
WorldSBK observers will be able to get an early feel for the 2019 form guide when pre-season testing begins in Spain in November, ahead of more official outings in Europe next January.
The WorldSBK teams will make their way to Australia for a final hitout at Phillip Island before round one commences – and the debut of the new ‘triple treat’ format where an extra sprint race will be held on Sunday morning in between the two longer hitouts on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
Grab your season opener tickets for Phillip Island now
A three-day general admission is $120 if secured in advance, or $230 when you add camping to your purchase.
If you feel like splashing out, step up to a Bar SBK ticket at $265 (with camping $375) and enjoy undercover facilities at Doohan Corner, Siberia and Lukey Heights. World Superbikes is free for kids 15 and under, and so is your bike.
As an extra bonus at WorldSBK, all three-day ticket holders are gifted free paddock access. For all ticket and racing information, visit www.worldsbk.com.au or Ticketek.
Marco Melandri & Cortese on GRT Yamaha for WSBK 2019
GRT Yamaha Step Up to WorldSBK
with Marco Melandri and Sandro Cortese in 2019
Yamaha has reached an agreement with Marco Melandri and Sandro Cortese that will see the two riders campaign factory supported Yamaha YZF-R1 machines for the GRT Yamaha Team, who will step up to contest the FIM World Superbike Championship in 2019.
The move to the premier class for GRT Yamaha comes after two incredibly successful seasons in the FIM World Supersport Championship. In 2017 the team secured the world title with Lucas Mahias, who returned with the team in 2018 to finish as runner up to Cortese in the championship. GRT Yamaha also finished both seasons as the top team in the series, making a significant contribution to Yamaha’s domination of the class.
While GRT Yamaha will be new to the FIM World Superbike Championship in 2019, in Melandri and Cortese they have two riders with vast experience gained in both prototype and production racing. This experience will be critical as the team adapt to the demands of racing in the premier production class.
A former 250cc World Champion and MotoGP race winner, Melandri has claimed an impressive 72 podium finishes, including 22 race wins, since making his debut in the FIM World Superbike Championship aboard a Yamaha YZF-R1 back in 2011. The 36-year-old from Ravenna in Italy was second in the championship that year, his best result to date, but has finished inside the top five in every season he’s contested since. Since stepping away from MotoGP Melandri has ridden for every European manufacturer in WorldSBK, Aprilia, Ducati, BMW, and also was for a period of time the official test rider for MV Agusta’s WorldSBK campaign.
Although 2019 will be Cortese’s first season in the FIM World Superbike Championship he also brings a wealth of experience with him to the GRT Yamaha team. The 28-year-old German took five race wins and 10 podium finishes on his way to being crowned as the first ever Moto3 World Champion in 2012. Cortese is also the reigning World Supersport Champion, having secured the title in his debut season in the class aboard a Yamaha YZF-R6 with a podium finish in the final round in Qatar.
Sandro Cortese – GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
“To win the WorldSSP championship and then step up to WorldSBK with the GRT Yamaha Team is like a dream come true for me. I’m super happy to be a part of this new project and, although it’s a big step, I am really looking forward to the challenge. I can’t wait to jump on the Yamaha YZF-R1 for the first time in Jerez later this month to start the familiarisation process. It will be like Christmas for me; I’ve never ridden such a big bike before and I am like a small kid who can’t wait to get his present! The bike will be more physically demanding to ride than the Yamaha YZF-R6 and, with three races every weekend instead of just one next year, I will definitely need to work on my fitness over the winter to ensure I’m ready.”
Melandri and Cortese will get their first opportunity to test the Yamaha YZF-R1 they’ll campaign in GRT Yamaha colours in 2019 during a two-day test at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain, which gets underway on 26th November.
Filippo Conti – GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Manager
“I am really delighted to be stepping up to the WorldSBK championship with Yamaha, it’s like a dream come true. We started this project in WorldSSP and now we are moving up to WorldSBK, which is very important for the team but also for Yamaha’s production racing program. It’s a big step for us and we know we will be facing a steep learning curve in our debut season, but our two riders bring with them a wealth of experience. Riders don’t come more experienced than Marco, who has been a frontrunner in WorldSBK since he came to the championship in 2011. And while 2019 will be Sandro’s first season on a WorldSBK machine, he’s the reigning WorldSSP champion and a former Moto3 World Champion, so I expect him to adapt quickly to our Yamaha YZF-R1. We need to learn a lot in this new category, but our target is clear; we want to be as competitive in WorldSBK as we have been in WorldSSP. Maybe this isn’t possible in our debut season, but that’s the goal for the future.”
Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
Enjoyed being in EICMA!
The #WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea and the #WorldSSP300 champion Ana Carrasco in the Kawasaki booth at #EICMA
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
Bit of an unplanned trip to Barcelona this afternoon but thanks Dr Lapuente and Albert our…
Bit of an unplanned trip to Barcelona this afternoon but thanks Dr Lapuente and Albert our performance manger Kawasaki Racing Team for getting me seen to and treated so fast! #keeppushing
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook