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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

4 Juin 2023

Rea Fourth In Race Two

The two Sunday races at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli WorldSBK round saw Jonathan Rea (KRT) finish fifth and then fourth, while his team-mate Alex Lowes was sixth and then a non-finisher.

In the Superpole Race on Sunday morning the expected ten lap race ended up as a seven lap contest, after a two rider crash brought out the red flags to stop proceedings with three laps to run.

On the count back of timed sectors completed for each rider, which determines the official result, Rea was finally classified fifth and Lowes sixth, 1.465 seconds behind his team-mate.

In a still dry and relatively warm Race Two all 21-laps were completed with Rea scoring fourth place, despite suffering some issues with his front brake adjustment system.

Lowes was on the way to repeat his sixth place from the Superpole race when he fell at Turn Four and no-scored.

In the championship rankings Jonathan is fourth, with 129 points, while Alex is ninth, with a total of 75 points.

The next round for the KRT squad’s UK riders will be a home round, at Donington Park, between 30 June and 2 July.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “I felt we didn’t give in and didn’t give up today, even in Race Two when I had an issue with my brake adjuster from the start. Generally when the brakes get up to temperature you have to make some adjustment. The lever was stuck, so braking with one finger meant that the lever was stuck between my fingers. I had a lot of arm pump trying to stop the bike. While I was fighting with Axel Bassani, when I was in his slipstream the system was overheating and the brake lever was coming back too much. Out of the slipstream it was manageable. That stopped me fighting with him. When I had some space I could just maintain my lap time. In the Superpole Race in the morning I felt quite strong. Axel, in some areas, was under my feet a little bit. In some areas he was better than others but there was no area where I could pass.”  

Alex Lowes, stated: “I felt great on the bike today and really sad about the crash. I had a good Superpole Race so we didn’t change the bike for Race Two. I felt good again as I sat in behind Jonathan, and to be honest I was trying to just settle into the race as the pace felt OK. Then, the next thing I know is that I crashed suddenly at Turn Four. It didn’t give me much warning and went early so I couldn’t react. It’s such a shame because I believe the crew and I did a really good job this weekend, but we don’t have the results to show for it.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) raced to 16th in the ‘sprint’ but Race Two was over before it properly began when his drive chain snapped and he had to retire without setting a complete lap.

Isaac Vinales (TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki) was 17th and then 16th on the final day of Misano race action.

Luca Vitali (Orelac Racing Movisio Kawasaki) was 18th in the sprint and then experienced a technical issue in Race Two that brought about his retirement. 

2023 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020
2023: Races 15, Wins 0, Podiums 4, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 118 (103 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 249 (207 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 40 (36 for Kawasaki)

Alex Lowes:
2023: Races: 15, Wins 0, Podiums 1, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 2 (1 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 34 (14 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)

8 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Tom Sykes 2013, Rea 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
6 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020)
5 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019)

Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 177 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 528 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 105 – second overall

                       #NinjaSpirit