Four rounds in to the WorldSBK season and Kawasaki sits second and seventh in the 2022 standings with Jonathan Rea 36 points behind Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista.

Five wins to Bautista’s six, Rea has been off the podium in just two races so far this season - after a fourth place in the final race at Misano and the dramatic Assen DNF - while his Spanish rival has a clean sweep to date.

Summing up the opening third of the year, KRT Team Manager Guim Roda is pleased with the season’s start but eager to maintain the consistency as the championship heads to both his riders’ home race at Donington Park.

“We start quite well honestly,” Roda confirmed after Misano. “Our performance was good and the job we did in the winter, it took the benefit at the beginning of the season.

“Unfortunately we make the crash in Assen. That’s mainly the difference now.

“We could have [been] with Bautista, that starts even a little bit stronger. We know the skills from Ducati, and Bautista weight combination and the way to ride the bike only in acceleration to make more metres than anybody and we will need to survive with this I think.

“Johnny is working so hard, even Toprak [Razgatlioglu] is working so hard. Both are trying to face with this complexity and we are so proud to give a big show and I think it’s one of the best seasons in the Superbike.

“Next round is Donington we already make only four rounds so still a lot of points to fight so I think it’s gonna be an amazing season.

“It’s a long season, many things can happen,” he continued on the six-time champ’s chances of another trophy haul. “They fight every race to close, I think except in Misano where Ducati has been so strong - a matter of racetrack conditions, racetrack they know quite well, tyre combination they had. So anyway, it’s like it is. I think we are going to be stronger in other races so is okay.”

On the other side of the garage, Alex Lowes is yet to stand on the podium in 2022, but not for the want of trying.

“So good, much better than people can see from outside,” Roda said of the 31-year-old’s season so far. “We are working a lot with him to manage his expectations.

“He have the potential, he have the speed, is a matter of control the speed and time to understand the limits of the bike and how to ride it. It’s a combination of his style and the bike’s characteristics, so quite happy.

“Except from Motorland, that we make a mistake in race one because he was overexcited to really stay there from the beginning. I think after that we have been consistently very good. In Assen we make, it was team mistakes because we make technical problems with the bike, so we did not let him stay there in top four to fight but I think he’s just behind top three. If he keep growing his level and his consistency, we’re gonna have Lowes soon!”

With the boss seemingly happy with the way things are going, 2023 looks set to be business as usual for the Provec-run squad.

“Is our idea to continue same as now because everything is working good,” Roda said on the possibility of keeping both Rea and Lowes for the coming year. “Let’s see. It’s a part of negotiation, is a part of talking with everybody and then let’s see.”