Rea was fastest in FP1 in the slightly cooler conditions of the morning session, with his lap time of 1’36.900 proving to the fastest of the opening day.
Lowes was seventh fastest overall, having also set his best time - 1’37.331 - in FP1.
The afternoon session started on time at 15.00 but two red flag incidents meant that the track action would be split into three parts, finishing up well after the scheduled time of 15.45.
The KRT duo spent some of their available time in FP2 evaluating their set-up on hot track temperatures of over 50°C to make sure they could have race-long grip for the first race of the weekend.
On Saturday 9 September there will be an FP3 session and then a 21-lap Race One around the 4.411km circuit. A ten-lap Tissot Superpole Race and a final 21-lap Race Two will complete the weekend action on Sunday 10 September.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “The guys did a good job and my first lap was a 1’37.6. With new tyres the bike felt really good and I was able to get to a strong rhythm. We had a really positive FP1, then in FP2 I felt like the track temperature went higher and I was expecting to stop the bike better, especially in the hairpin. I couldn’t stop in the last part of braking. They changed the front chassis position, but in reality I really struggled on the side of the tyre, during turning and in trail braking. I lost some confidence, so although there were a lot of red flags that actually helped as Pere and the team had time to go back to the FP1 set-up. Even with quite a few laps on the tyres I was able to improve. I think the race options are quite clear for us. But we still need to improve the trail braking feeling and have more front confidence. I don’t know if we can say that we have fixed the issues we had with overloading the front at the start of the year, but certainly in these conditions of 50°C on the track we found that the front tyre consumption wasn’t as bad as we experienced at the beginning of the season.”
Alex Lowes, stated: “I love this track and I felt good straight away. We have had some bad weather here over the years, almost complete wash-outs, but it is always a great track to ride. It is quite difficult, with some changes of direction and elevation. It has always been a really enjoyable layout and I am always happy to be here. The bike itself felt good today, but if I could choose to I wouldn’t have such high temperatures, as sometimes we can’t go as well when it is really red hot. But, today I felt quite good. I tried both tyre combinations in the FP2 session this afternoon, did a lot of laps and we have got some ideas for tomorrow. I was competitive today, I really enjoyed it and hopefully we can challenge for the podium tomorrow.”
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 21st at his home round, riding as a stand-in for Tito Rabat. Isaac Vinales (TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki) was 20th after day one and Oliver König (Orelac Racing Movisio Kawasaki) 23rd.
2023 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020
2023: Races 24, Wins 1, Podiums 11, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 119 (104 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 256 (214 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 41 (37 for Kawasaki)
Alex Lowes:
2023: Races: 24, 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: 178 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 535 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 106 – second overall
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