Rea Shines At Catalunya World SBK Test
S
ix-time World Champion Jona-
than Rea took his new-look
Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR to the top
of the timesheets after two days of
testing alongside the vast majority
of his 2021 peer group at the 2021
Catalunya WorldSBK test.
A new track section at turn 10
was one of the smaller things to
get used to.
Change is defining the 2021
season already, even with nearly
two months to go until the even-
tual start of real racing. But even
when using an SCX race tire to
set his best lap, reigning cham-
pion Rea was still the name on
top at these tests.
His Kawasaki Racing Team
bike is called the same as the old
one but it has many changes—in-
ternal winglets, a revvier engine
and some other race-friendly
tech detailing.
There were some changes for
the official Aruba.it Racing Ducati
team, a shiny new swingarm for
2020 rookie runner-up Scott
Redding to try. He went second
fastest overall, 0.179 seconds be-
hind Rea's best of test 1'40.264.
Third up was another top 2020
season rookie, America's own
Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha)
riding a 2021 bike with a 2020
engine, for now. A podium rider
at Catalunya last year, Gerloff
was the top Yamaha rider of all at
this test—and fast throughout.
Top rider on the very eagerly
anticipated new M1000RR BMW
was neither of the factory riders
but new entry this year, Jonas
Folger (Bonovo Action Team
BMW). A big push from him and
he was up to fourth place, but he
had already been in the top third
of the 20-rider field more often
than not, despite a big get-off.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi, now
a factory Aruba.it Racing Ducati
rider, was fifth fastest, just under
half a second shy of Rea, with
the first HRC rider home, Leon
IN
THE
WIND
P24
Jonathan Rea topped
the leaderboard on his
all-new Kawasaki Ninja
ZX-10RR at the Catlunya
WorldSBK test.
PHOTOS: GOLD & GOOSE
