KAWASAKI RACING TEAM ZX-10R
RACE TEST
P104
the tire—essentially making the
inline four a pair of parallel twins
when the throttle is first opened
up to 30 percent. This softens
the power delivery, making the
torque hit less aggressive. But
for next year, this advantage will
be taken away when the new
rules dictate the team must run
the same throttle bodies (all four
opening at once) as the produc-
tion bike.
Rea's electronics engineer,
Paolo Marchetti, is thus the man
who has had more work cut out
for him than most in 2016. Mar-
chetti is a master of the Marelli
MLE electronics the team uses,
and works closely with the Uls-
terman at every WorldSBK race.
"Up to the end of this year, we
could do whatever we wanted
(with the throttle bodies)," says
Marchetti, "and you can hear the
bike on track (when on its side,
the Kawasaki pops and burbles
like the traction control is kick-
ing in, but it's actually the twin
bank of throttle bodies as the
bike uprights itself off corners).
"Now we have to run a standard
throttle body and we have to find
a different way to try to get the
same results. The main target is
always the same, but power de-
livery must be smooth. You must
save the tire for the last five laps.
Now it's much more difficult."
Rea and the team have already
found the 2017 setup, where all
four throttle bodies open together,
works just fine. The team experi-
mented with the change at Jerez
and Qatar, and to the team's relief,
Rea liked the change more than
"Working with Jonathan is excellent because I talk with him when he's
outside the bike. He's a fantastic, easy guy. Then he jumps on the bike and
transforms himself into a monster. When he closes the visor, it's like he
becomes perfect, precise, always fast. He always put the tire in the same
place. That's typical from a champion. You can give him something and he
pushes right to the limit. So we move the limit here, and he's here. We move
the limit again, and he's here. He's always pushing against the limit. It's a
never-ending process"
– Paolo Marchetti, Jonathan Rea's Electronic Technician
Team Rea. Jonathan (middle) sits
out practice with Crew Chief Pere
Riba (left) and electronics engineer
Paolo Marchetti.
(Top) Factory Showa shock. Showa
supplies only Kawasaki in WorldSBK
and thus the team only gets the best
equipment. (Bottom) The only Öhlins
component is the steering damper.
