Image: Supplied.

Triple Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) winner Jonathan Rea has declared he is as motivated as ever entering the 2018 season, in which he will aim for a fourth title in succession.

Rea has been based at his Australian home in Victoria through much of the off-season after conquering a third crown last year, determined to continue his dominant form on the ZX-10RR this year.

With new technical regulations coming into force for the 2018 season, Kawasaki has already met the challenge head-on in recent winter tests in Spain. Rea and teammate Tom Sykes will start the season with a maximum 14,100rpm limit, in line with the new regulations.

“After our last winter test of 2017 I remained very busy for a couple of weeks doing PR exercises around the world,” Rea reflected. “It was a welcome break to go back to Australia, where we have just built a new home. It’s become part of my routine now to follow the sun during the off-season to make sure I arrive at the start of the season well-rested and well-prepared.

“It’s been amazing and I feel more excited and motivated to ride my bike than ever before. Jerez is a good testing circuit for us as we can confirm the items we tested here in November and continue to work on our 2018 spec ZX-10RR. We can focus a little more on fine-tuning the bike and getting my brain up to speed again. With all this in mind, we will approach this test with a step-by-step philosophy.”

With the direction of the 2018 official Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10RR development largely set in the post-season tests last year, the factory and team technical staff will now begin more direct preparations to be ready to start the new season.

After the completion of the Jerez tests, Kawasaki will head to Portimao in Portugal for the final European winter tests between 28-29 January. The opening round of the year will take place at Phillip Island between 23-25 February.