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Jonathan Rea looks forward to the 4th stage of the World Superbike Championship, which will take place this weekend on the Barcelona track. Even if the Cannibal hasn’t yet won a race yet, he managed to find a podium again in Assen, which he was he hasn't had since his second place at Phillip Island during the opening race of the season.
A step forward resulting from the work carried out on the ZX-10RR’s frame during the tests in Aragon and Barcelona, which could prove to be the key to achieving good performance, even on a track Akashi’s bike doesn’t like much, such as Montmeló: the home track of Kawasaki Racing Team, which hopes to see the six-time champion bring to 250 the number of podiums he’s achieved in his career.
“I’m excited because it’s the team’s home weekend, and there’s always quite a buzz around Barcelona. It’s a nice track to ride on. It’s always been a difficult stage for us in the past, but we had a good test a few weeks ago. I feel we can be more competitive, thanks to the new direction we’ve taken with the bike’s set-up. We just have to see how things go,” Rea admitted. “It looks like the weather will be stable this weekend, which is always an advantage. I can’t wait to get to work and see what I can do. We’ll have a lot of support from the team's staff, their families and sponsors, so it’s an important race to be fast in. We’ll move forward, step by step, over the weekend and build a plan with Pere.”
The good sensations during the tests also left Alex Lowes hopeful, as he hopes to repeat the podium won in the Sprint Race last year on the Catalan track.
“I always have mixed feelings about Montmeló, where we did a test recently. It’s one of the most fun tracks to ride on, with lots of long corners. But it's probably not the perfect track for our bike, precisely because of those long corners and the high degree of tire wear,” Alex said. “But we completed a good test here recently with our SBK. I found a good set-up for the bike. I feel good on the bike, and I can’t wait for the team’s home race to try and fight for the podium.”
