In Portimao we had a long chat with Pere Riba, from this year Alex Lowes' crew chief. You might have read the first part a few days ago, today we publish the second part in which the former Spanish rider talks exclusively about the Kawasaki situation.
"We are very satisfied with the results obtained in this first part of the season," he began, "in Australia we won, then we managed to achieve other very good results confirming what the work we have done."
How big a step forward have you made since Rea's departure?
"I think an important step has been taken. Certainly the balance of the regulations has helped our development. It's kind of like Ducati, which in 2019 made a race bike for the street, and I can only congratulate them. We have more or less done the same thing, interpreting the regulation as best we can, although to date there are still areas to improve. Certainly Alex Lowes is lapping stronger at all circuits than last year and is close to the other riders. Toprak is doing a separate job, but with the other rivals we were able to close the gap to some extent."
Many people think the bike's potential is due to the extra 500 revs you have. Is that the case?
"The extra 500 revs definitely help, but that's not why the Kawasaki is competitive. We have intervened on the electronics as well as on the balance of the bike. At the same time work has been done on the suspension and of course the set-up. All this, put together, led us to achieve these results."
Bassani rode the Panigale V4. Did you talk to him? Did he give you any pointers?
"Indications can always be useful. Bassani told us that the Ducati in corner exit was smooth and you could open the throttle without any problems while the Kawasaki is aggressive. The fact is that the engine configuration and electronics are different between the Panigale and the ZX-10RR. Also, figuring out where all this potential of theirs comes from is impossible for us."
What do you think is the weak point to date of this Kawasaki?
"The engine at high rpm. Just look at the fourth sector in Most or the last sector in Barcelona where we are almost three tenths per lap slower. At the end of the race the math then is soon done. The problem is that from third to sixth gear we still suffer. We get up to 225 km/h and the BMW 250 km/h. Maybe we can make some steps, however, we remain distant."
Maybe with Bimota this problem will be eliminated?
"I don't know, we'll see..."
photo: Vaclav Duska