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After re-signing for the official Honda team for the 2012 WSBK championship recently Jonathan Rea took steps into the immediate and longer-term future in a two-day test at Misano. He not only got in some more valuable track time, he also had real material advances to evaluate, including a new ride-by-wire throttle system.

"It's been a real proper test, this, and we had a lot of stuff to work through. On top of that, Pirelli also brought some new rubber to try so, in the end, we actually ran out of time. We probably needed the rest of this week to get through everything, but we can definitely see the potential of the fly-by-wire system that I tested for the first time today. Also, I'm able to ride a lot more in my comfort zone with this new package and it helped with engine braking, too."

Recently back from an injury which he picked up in a frighteningly high speed crash at Misano in June, Rea had no worries about returning to the site of his big fall. "Going back to Misano was no problem for me and, in fact, I was going through the corner where I crashed faster than I did during the race weekend in June," said the tough rider from Northern Ireland.