On Track Off Road No. 187

SBK
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CRUCIAL TIMES...
WorldSBK is in the middle of another long gap between
races that makes it a little frustrating when you see all other
motorcycle series in full swing. There is a test this week in
Misano which will offer a couple of pointers as to where we
will see things go in the coming races.
There will be one new arrival at the
test in the shape of the Ten Kate
Yamaha R1 with Frenchman Loris
Baz on board. It will be great to see
the Dutch squad back at the race
track but I can’t honestly see them
making an immediate impact on
the field given that this is the first
time their racing machine will have
run outside the workshop and also
the first time in a fair few months
that Baz will be lapping at racing
speed.
There is always the temptation in
these instances to try and hit the
track running, to be at the same
pace as your peers from the outset.
I hope, however, that Loris and the
team ease into things gently and
‘walk’ for a few laps before trying to
light the afterburners.
The other intriguing thing for this
test is how Kawasaki will approach
it. Jonathan Rea won last time out
at Imola, in both race one and the
Superpole Race, but I reckon he left
Italy smarting a little at the misfortune
of not being able to score
a maximum in race two due to the
weather and missing the opportunity
to claw back more points in the
title race.
I go back to the start of the year
when discussing the impact Bautista
had made and the suggestion offered
by someone close to the team
that he would struggle in Imola.
Ducati had taken the opportunity to
test there in the weeks before the
race but the Spaniard was still off
the pace. Was it down to his riding
style or was Alvaro just taking a
measured approach to his feeling
about the race track? He was vocal
in his views on the Sunday that he
felt the track was unsafe in the dry
and therefore much worse in the
wet.
Despite that win, Rea has spoken
in the press about the need to
improve the set up of the Ninja
ZX-10RR to keep him on par, or
ahead, of the Ducati. Last year, the
early season test took place after
Assen, in Brno, and Rea and the
team found something extra that
raised his level again for the rest of
the season. That set him off on an
incredible winning streak, with only
the Yamaha’s of Van Der Mark and
Lowes occupying the top step mid
season.
At the end of the year Rea’s crew
chief Pere Riba said that in the
Brno test they were able to try
some changes to the bike’s set up
that he had been thinking about
since Buriram, and that was the
first opportunity he had had to
put them to the sword. We are in
a similar situation again. In Motorland
Aragon I spoke to Riba
on Saturday night and he echoed