Starting from the head of the third row, it was always going to be an uphill battle for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) around the undulations of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola. However, if anyone could wrestle their way to a podium, the six-time World Champion – and indeed the most successful rider at Imola – is probably a good bet, and the #65 lived up to the billing.

Starting from seventh after a tricky Superpole and start to the day, when he was only ninth in FP3, the 36-year-old made a rapid start to his race and was up to fifth by the end of Lap 1. With a fierce battle at the front between Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Rea was able to ride consistently and bring himself into contention. A massive moment for Bassani at Turn 3 when he hit the front slowed the group and Rea took full advantage into Turn 14, before jumping ahead of Locatelli into the final chicane for P3. He then set sights on Bautista and Razgatlioglu but didn’t have the pace, although he was happy and somewhat surprised with the podium in Race 1.

Speaking about the race and his battle through the field, Rea was happy with the performance: “It was very tough! One of those races where I didn’t expect to be on the podium, even if it’s always the target. After a very tough Friday and Superpole, starting from 7 was difficult. I cut through the traffic very well in the first laps and got good track position, but then I didn’t have anything for Toprak or Alvaro. They were just a little bit faster than me but I was the best of the rest. We need to improve in some areas for tomorrow; the bike feels quite good in the heavy braking zones but finishing the corner, we’re not good enough. We have some good data to move tomorrow and for the Superpole Race, I feel like we can be competitive enough; we need to get a good start and see where we are.”

Rea’s third place sees him move to just nine points behind Andrea Locatelli in the Championship standings, something he’ll be keen to get into by the close of the Prometeon Italian Round weekend. The Ulsterman has 13 consecutive podiums at Imola and hopes that in the Superpole Race, he can make it to a first victory of 2023 and improve his starting position for Race 2. In other news, Rea shared the podium with rival Toprak Razgatlioglu for a record-setting 75^th time, although his win drought extended to 21 races – with just one victory in the last 46 starts.

Continuing to evaluate the technical improvements made, Rea stated that he was content but there’s still more that can be done: “In braking, I felt OK. For these conditions, I used the SC1 tyre which for our bike, isn’t normal. Normally in the hotter conditions, we demand a lot on the front and this requires a harder tyre. It seems like we’re going in the right direction but it’s still not enough. We need to keep working on our weaker areas and try to improve.”

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