On Track Off Road No.181

By Graeme Brown
That in itself will bring it’s own
problems. Manufacturers are selling
less and less sports bikes and
the new model cycle is stretching
out from what was previously
around two years, to five and six.
If a bike is homologated for racing
and it proves to be below par,
the timescale for change is then
too long to make a difference. It’s
a difficult conundrum but I think
one that needs to be discussed
between Dorna, the FIM and all
manufacturers and I would actually
like to think that it already
has.
As I said, I love it however. As
really young kid growing up I was
obsessed by car rallying (my old
boy had a friend with a garage
that sponsored a team) and I was
fixated by all the extra bits that
went on a rally car; big lamps,
roof vents; buckets seats. It had
such an exotic feel to it. Then
when they started introducing
carbon fibre, well…….
The little boy in me is still there
and I found myself standing in
the pit lane just staring at the
new Ducati.
There was so much to look at it
was like being a kid again and being
unable to take it all in. I then
pulled my camera off my shoulder
and there was a mass panic
and the garage door slammed
shut. There are obviously some
real trick bits that are not for general
viewing at the moment. Out
on track it looks and sounds awesome.
Just as a race bike should.
Davies pronounced himself happy
with his initial feelings with the
bike. His biggest issue was adapting
to the different power characteristics
of the four cylinder
engine after so many years racing
the V-twin. He said that he felt so
comfortable on the bike, however,
that he was having to hold himself
back from pushing hard. The
plan for the test was to get lots
of consistent laps on the board
and get lots of data and a good
feeling. The racer in him wanted
to wring its neck and answer the
question: “how fast does it go
mister?” I can’t wait till Jerez to
see if he gets the chance to give
it the berries.
Jonathan Rea was also adapting
to the 2019 version of the
Ninja ZX-10RR. Kawasaki have
changed a number things in the
engine internals of the production
bike and it has altered the characteristics
of the race machine
quite a bit.
I spoke to both Jonathan and
Pere Riba on Thursday morning
when rain had stopped play and
they both had the same feeling
with the new bike. It was like a
new partner that you had to get
to know, to understand them and
work on being comfortable in the
relationship.
The 2019 Kawasaki had proved
to be a difficult first date for
Jonathan. He was able to post
a fast lap time, and he can see
the potential, but there is a lot of
work to do until he can put his
feet up on the sofa without getting
moaned at.
His new teammate Leon Haslam
was wrestling with a really feisty
character on his first meeting
with his new partner. Coming
from the BSB championship that
has a control ECU,