Rea eager to stay in the podium club
Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) is keen to continue a recent good run of form as he approaches one of his favourite circuits on the 2012 eni FIM Superbike Word Championship trail. A winner twice this year and a podium finisher at the most recent round in the USA, Rea is now fourth in the championship fight, only 19.5 points behind championship leader Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team).
Rea is fully aware that keeping up momentum is the name of the game for him at the San Marino round this weekend. "The last few races have been pretty good really, so we're hoping to be able to take that positive momentum forward into the Misano round this weekend," said Rea. "There's a fantastic atmosphere in the team and the recent results have given everyone a lot of motivation to keep it going. It's important that we continue to move forward because there are still a lot of areas where we need to improve. But there are a lot of positives, too, especially with the electronics, where the crew and my data engineer, Arlan Holterman, have been working really hard."
Rea scored the first of his ten career SBK race wins at Misano but some of his more recent experiences of the Santamonica circuit have been much more difficult. "The last couple of visits to Misano have not been good, but I don't want to be dwelling in the past because we've got the bike working really well now - as we've shown at Donington and Miller, where it wasn't so good before. I love going to Misano, though; I got my first World Superbike win there, and the beach and the food are great, of course. It's also the last chance this season to meet the passionate Italian fans, and that's always a special treat."
