World Superbike News
Jonathan Rea knows what it takes to be successful in the world of motorcycle racing. This is eveident, considering the Northern Ireland native’s recent performances at the Silverstone round of World Superbike, and the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race.
In World Superbike, where he competes on the No. 65 Hannspree Ten Kate Honda , the 23-year-old had a very positive weekend with double second-place podiums. After finishing behind fellow Brit Cal Crutchlow in both races, Rea is now third in the championship with 313 points and three rounds to go. He trails behind current points leader Max Biaggi (373) and Leon Haslam (313).
During a recent teleconference conducted by Miller Motorsports Park, UltimateMotorcycling.com got Rea speaking about his recent performance at Silverstone, the Suzuka 8 race and the team’s troubles with obtaining grip on certain tracks with the Pirelli tires, the official tire of World SBK competition.
Regarding Silverstone, Rea says he gave it all he could on the CBR1000R, but wasn’t able to get optimal edge grip from the Pirelli tires towards the end of the race.
Rea says Crutchlow’s Sterilgarda Yamaha was tuned better, working a “bit more on edge” when regarding the tires. Rea says his team has many inconsistencies with Pirelli tires, which upsets the chassis on the bikes.
He also describes his passion for fast, long circuits like Brno, Miller Motorsports Park and Silverstone. When describing Silverstone, he says the UK track has “one of the coolest corners in the world,” which is the Copse right-hander after the new Pit Straight where a WSBK rider can run flat out in fourth gear.
Rea went on to talk about his third position in this year’s Suzuki 8 race, one in which him and his FSS TSR Honda teammate Kousuke Akiyoshi were down 42 laps, but came back to steal the last podium position. He called the Suzuka 8 the best race of his career.
Stay tuned for the posting of the official transcript from the Miller Motorsports Park teleconference.