Aragon WorldSBK Test: ‘A lot of fun, feedback and fast laps’ for Rea

Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea is ‘ready as ever’ for the start of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship after topping final testing.

Two days on track at Motorland Aragon before round one kicks off on Friday, left the Northern Irishman under his own race lap record and three-tenths shy of the outright circuit record thanks to a 1’48.714 effort in the closing minutes of the final day.

Cold temperatures meant the opening sessions of each day saw limited action with the following two 45-minute practices proving more productive as Rea prepared his Ninja ZX-10RR for the season ahead. Working on set up and assessing the new Pirelli qualifying tyre ahead of Saturday’s Superpole shootout.

“Step-by-step we have built the package at this test,” Rea said. “The afternoon sessions were much better than the first morning. We got meaningful work done and we confirmed our bike set-up.

“On the last runs I was really able to clarify the package we will start the race weekend with. We also ticked a lot of boxes with tyres. We used the SCQ qualifying tyre, which is new for us. We had to understand it before we use it in Superpole qualifying on Saturday.

“Today I enjoyed riding the bike; I had a lot of fun and got a lot of feedback. When that happens we are able to go quite fast. I am as ready as I will ever be to start racing.

“You can always do more, but you have to start somewhere and if we were to go racing tomorrow I am happy enough to start. We will have the usual ‘class of 2022’ photos on Thursday and then go racing on Friday.”

“The test was positive and Johnny is confident with the bike,” Rea’s crew chief Pere Riba added. “This two day test is different compared to the race weekend because the temperature is going to be completely