Jonathan Rea signs new two-year deal with Kawasaki
The Ulsterman will stay on the ZX-10R until the end of 2018
JONATHAN Rea has signed a new contract to stay in World Superbikes with Kawasaki for another two years.
Rea won the 2015 World Superbike Championship during his first year with Kawasaki World Superbike squad, during a dominant season that saw him collect 14 race wins.
Speaking about his decision to stay with Kawasaki on the ZX-10R until the end of 2018, the Northern Irishman said:
‘I am so happy to extend this partnership with the Kawasaki Racing Team and continue the great relationship I have with all the Kawasaki engineers and fans,” Rea said. “It is clear that our objectives and way of working are very well matched so it makes perfect sense to extend this for two more seasons.
‘With all the incredible memories we have made so far and are now creating, I am 100% confident that we will enjoy working together and develop the Ninja ZX-10R into the future.
‘I would like to thank Kawasaki and all the KRT staff for their full support and belief in my potential. With this in mind I am now even more focused than ever to win the World SBK Championship in 2016 to make it back to back wins.’
Kawasaki team manager Guim Roda also indicated that he wants to retain Tom Skykes when he said:
‘We have now two great riders in KRT. Two World Champions and the goal is to keep them for the next two years. Rea is an experienced rider with a young spirit and big motivation, open to learning and improving race-by-race.
‘This gives us even greater potential to have an even better rider in two years' time. His big credit in this KRT project is to give us the pressure to give the best to him. I know clearly that the mechanics, crew, technicians, team staff and all KHI engineers will do our best to cover his expectations.’
