Jonathan Rea ‘encouraged’ but ‘lot of work to do’ before World Superbike season opener at Phillip Island in Australia

The six-time champion ended the two-day test at Jerez in Spain second fastest overall, only 0.083s down on Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, who recovered after a crash in the morning session on the final day of the test on Thursday to take the top spot on the time sheets.

Reigning champion Alvaro Bautista was in close contention on the new 2023 Ducati V4R, with the Spaniard slotting into third overall as the trio were covered by 0.180s.

Rea, third last year in the championship behind Bautista and Razgatlioglu, was working with new electronics engineer Sander Donkers for the first time at Jerez, where Christophe Lambert also joined the Kawasaki Racing Team alongside the current personnel.

“It has been a productive couple of days,” said Rea, who improved his time from day one by almost one second on Thursday.

“We didn’t do so many laps because of the cold track conditions in the morning, so we just started a little bit later. But the laps we did do were very productive.

“I really got on well with my new electronics guy, Sander. We also have Christophe arriving with a lot of experience.

“So the first day was more about understanding and communication, how they adapted the set-up to my requests and how I make my comments to them,” he added.

“It is only the first step but they had some really good ideas. We improved quite a lot in one area.”

Although he was satisfied with his first run on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR this year, Rea and his team are looking to make bigger gains ahead of the season-opener at Phillip Island from February 24-26.

“I am quite encouraged by this test but we still have a lot of work to do before Phillip Island,” said the 35-year-old.

“We also tried out some development front tyre options from Pirelli. The track itself was in good shape on both days but it was a bit windy at the end of the final day.”

His team-mate, Alex Lowes, was fifth quickest overall behind Aruba.it Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

Double World Supersport champion Dominique Aegerter was an impressive sixth on the GRT Yamaha as he makes the step up to World Superbikes for the first time.

Fellow championship rookie and former MotoGP rider Danilo Petrucci also caught the eye, ending the test eighth fastest on the Barni Ducati, with Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) enjoying a solid test in 10th as he gears up for his maiden World Superbike race next month.

The next winter test for Rea will be at Portimao in Portugal on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by two days of official testing at Phillip Island, a few days before free practice gets under way for round one of the 2023 series.

Rea attended the Irish Motorbike Awards in Belfast last Friday, when he was made a lifetime member of the MCUI. However, he missed out on winning the Joey Dunlop trophy for the 10th time overall after Glenn Irwin was crowned the Irish Motorcyclist of the Year for 2022.