Jonathan Rea is looking to kick-start his World Superbikes campaign this weekend at Assen, with the Pata Honda rider hoping to put up a stronger showing after a mixed weekend at Aragon.
The Northern Irish rider, who was downbeat following the round in Spain a fortnight ago after a fourth and 15thplace finish, is hopeful that the Honda team has worked on the continuing problems that have dogged both him and teammate Leon Haslam in the opening rounds.
Rea was critical of the bike’s performance in Aragon, particularly the straight-line speed, but hopes that another two weeks of development will address those problems.
Rea has a good record at Assen, having won there for the past three seasons (including a double success in 2010) and the race is also the home race for the Netherlands based Pata Honda team.
“I’m looking forward to getting back on track there after our busy testing build-up to the last round in Spain,” he claimed. “The boys have done a lot of work since Aragon and looked at a lot of data, so we’ve hopefully got a few new settings to try this weekend, especially around the throttle connection.
“We’ll start with free practice on Friday to try and turn it into a competitive package for two 22-lap races on Sunday. I hope the weather is a bit more consistent than it was last season but it would certainly be nice to get another good result at Assen.”
