Rea full of confidence for Imola

Having won last time out at Nurburgring onboard his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, Jonathan Rea arrives in Imola full of confidence for this weekends race.

The 22 year old sits fourth in the championship having been as low down as tenth after Valencia and is still focussed on the possibility of over hauling Italian Ducati rider Michel Fabrizio for third in the standings.

Rea said:

“I feel that we’re punching above our weight this season. At the start of the year out package was not perfect but we’ve shown how strong we are as a team and we’ve continually made it better.”

Having revealed that he expected to be fighting for sixth or seventh in the championship standing in his rookie WSB season, Rea has clearly raised his game during the year.

He said: “Racing with guys like Ben (Spies), Nori (Haga) and Michel (Fabrizio) has given me a lot of confidence and has meant I’ve been able to keep getting stronger.”

In the two day official test at Imola in July, Rea topped the time sheets ahead of Fabrizio and Spies and with an ever improving bike will start tomorrow’s first free practice in a strong position.

“When we were here for the test it all clicked so hopefully that will happen again and we can be up there from the start tomorrow.”