Rea “dusted off” and ready for Portugal
Added on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Rea “dusted off” and ready for Portugal
Jonathan Rea claims that his focus is firmly on pushing for the podium this weekend in Portimao after “blowing the dust off” at Phillip Island three weeks ago.
Rea started the season with a fourth and sixth place finish in Australia, a result that satisfied the Ten Kate Honda rider but left him eager to push on, starting in the Algarve this weekend.
“Australia was tough, but still satisfying,” said the 23-year-old. “It was important to come away from there with some solid points, so a fourth and a sixth wasn’t too bad. I feel like we’ve blown the dust off the season and it’s really got started, especially now we’re heading back to Europe.”
Rea is one of the early season favourites in what is an extremely competitive World Superbikes championship this season, evidenced by thrilling racing at the front of the field and the poor results achieved by some of the bigger names in Phillip Island, and he knows that there is work to do to get the Ten Kate Honda at the front of the field this weekend.
“I’ve been working hard away from the track on my fitness and conditioning and I know that the guys have been working equally hard back at the workshop, getting a bike together that we know can work at European tracks,” he added.
“I like Portimão, and we had a good test there in January, so we’ll be looking for podium finishes as that’s what we need to be doing now. I’m not naïve enough to think anything’s going to be easy, but I’m optimistic for the weekend.”
