Features 28 Sep 2016

The SBK Report

CycleOnline.com.au's latest take on the WorldSBK season.

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes look forward to the 11th round of the 2016 Superbike World Championship at Magny-Cours in France sitting first and second in the points table, with three rounds and six races still to run.

Rea has already won nine races on the all-new Ninja ZX-10R and Sykes five, in what has been a great showing for Kawasaki’s latest flagship sportsbike at the highest level of production-derived racing.

After scoring some heavily contrasting results in the more recent championship rounds, Rea and Sykes will arrive in France with a points differential of 47 between them. The championship battle is very much still alive, especially with potential of 150 points on offer for any rider who can win all six of the remaining races.

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

“I am looking forward to Magny-Cours because I have had a good history there and I enjoy riding it. It is always pretty full of French fans and, of course, it is that crucial time of the season now,” Rea said. “We have a points advantage but not enough to be comfortable with, so we still have to go out and make big points in France.

“Of course, at this stage of the year I am thinking about the gap but I do not want to let it affect my riding. We can’t really manage a 47-point lead because we can see how easy it is to lose a bunch of points, but going into the weekend in France I am happy and confident on the bike and we have a lot of data for the track.”

Only one other rider – third-placed Chaz Davies – has a mathematical chance of overtaking either of the KRT duo to win the riders’ title this year, but he is currently 98 points adrift of Rea and 51 points behind Sykes. If Rea leaves Magny-Cours with even three points more than Davies can score, Kawasaki would be guaranteed the riders’ title for either Rea or Sykes.

“Magny-Cours is a track that we have had great results at in the past, but the thing is that now we can go to every track knowing we have the potential to win,” Sykes said. “Magny-Cours is one venue that has stood out in the past, so we are going there to utilise the best of our potential. We have seen already this year how fast things can turn on their heads.

“In Germany on one day it all went for me and then on the second day it went against me – we can see how fast things can change in racing. We still have a long way to go and we are still in the running. Kawasaki riders are 1-2 in the championship, so obviously we are doing something right! We have some good ideas, if the weather is wet, to change things up to give me what I need.”

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

Each KRT rider has previously won races for Kawasaki at the 4.411km Magny-Cours circuit, with Rea scoring a double in his championship-winning year of 2015 and Sykes having taken three race victories there between 2012 and 2013, all on Ninja ZX-10R machinery.

The career statistics for both Rea and Sykes moved on once more after the most recent round in Germany. Rea now has 38 race wins, 83 podiums, six Superpoles, 39 front row starts and 26 fastest laps to his credit in WorldSBK. Sykes, the 2013 world champion, has 31 wins, 79 podiums, 37 Superpoles, 55 front row starts and 31 fastest laps in his career to date.

Kawasaki has enjoyed a long-term lead in the manufacturers’ championship thanks to the capabilities of the 2016 model Ninja ZX-10R. Another prospect for Kawasaki at Magny-Cours is the mathematical chance to be awarded the manufacturers’ championship trophy.

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