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Solid start to Portugal test
Published: January 22, 2010

Jonathan Rea was third fastest after today’s opening day of the pre-season World Superbike test at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimao in Portugal.
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Merry Christmas
Published: December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope that you have a great day tomorrow. I will be spending it with my family at home in Northern Ireland. It is beautiful here and it looks like we will have a white Christmas Day. I've done all my shopping and will be eating until I have to loosen my belt and hope all you guys do the same!

Seasons Greetings

Jonathan Rea

 

 






In the final World Superbike track action of 2009, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea set the fourth fastest unofficial time in a two-day test, which concluded this afternoon at Valencia in Spain.

Despite a small crash yesterday, the 22-year-old, who finished his debut WSBK season in championship fifth place, completed 190 laps of the 4.005km Ricardo Tormo circuit with a best time of 1’34.2s as he tested a combination of new swingarm, front forks and electronics on his 2009 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade.

The Valencia test marked Rea’s first track outing since his coronation in the ‘Kings of Wanneroo’ meeting in Perth, Australia last month where the Northern Irishman won all three races on a stock Honda CBR1000RR.

Also testing in Valencia was Max Neukirchner, Rea’s new Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate for the 2010 season, continuing his familiarisation with the team and the Honda CBR1000RR – a process which started in October at Portimao in Portugal.

The German ace spent most of 2009 on the sidelines through injury but Neukirchner has been training hard and his current fitness levels are high enough for the 26-year-old to have completed 160 laps during his two days at Valencia, setting a best time of 1’34.7s.

Jonathan Rea – best time 1’34.2s

We’ve had a really constructive couple of days here and got through a lot of work. We evaluated three sets of forks with different internal specifications, a slightly modified swing arm and some different electronics, so there was a big list of things to assess. What we didn’t get much of a chance to do was combine all the good things we found into one package and we were still working through things when Pirelli asked us to test the two new tyres they had. One of them felt pretty good, but we didn’t really have the right set up to get the best out of it. Overall, I’m really happy though, because it was a big workload we had to get through.

Ronald ten Kate – team manager

All the stuff that we needed to test here has been tested, and it was a lot of work to get through. The improvement from our race here in April is like the difference between night and day so it’s definitely been a good step forward for Jonathan, who has put in a lot of laps and worked really hard. We’re also beginning to find to clear direction forward with Max. We tested a lot of different settings so we will be able to narrow the window a lot more for him at our next test in Portimao in January. For now, we head back to our families in a very positive frame of mind and take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a very happy and successful New Year.




Rea visits NEC motorcycle show
Published: December 4, 2009

A number of top line names have been confirmed for the final weekend of the Carole Nash International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the NEC in Birmingham this weekend.

Former World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty is due to attend the show along with TT champions John McGuinness and Steve Plater, while ex-Moto GP rider Carlos Checa and current WSBK ace Jonathan Rea will also make the trip.

Show regular James Whitham, former triple British Superbike Champions John Reynolds and Niall Mackenzie and By Any Means adventurer Charley Boorman will also be meeting the crowds across the action-packed weekend.

Helmet manufacturers Arai will host its charity auction on the final weekend of the show. Presented by Steve Parrish, the auction aims to raise money for health workers in Africa through the Riders For Health charity and will open bidding on a signed Colin Edwards replica helmet and many other money-can't-buy items.

“The attendance of such high profile stars only goes to underline the importance of the Show in the motorcycling calendar, and how the riders recognise the importance of the British public,” managing director of MCI Exhibitions Finlay McAllan said. “We look forward to a successful and exciting finishing weekend and welcoming the TT riders to the Show on Saturday.”

James Toseland, Troy Corser and Leon Haslam are amongst the riders to have attended the show so far.
 



Rea takes Wanneroo Hatrick
Published: November 11, 2009

Jonathan Rea completed his hat-trick in the third Kings of Wanneroo race on Sunday and duly wrapped up the overall crown to follow in the footsteps of Australian Superbike Champion Glenn Allerton who took the inaugural title 12 months ago.

Rea was never headed in the final 15-lap race and when Alastair Seeley crashed out and Ian Lowry’s exhaust fell off, he was able to take a dominant victory of almost nine seconds.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here at Wanneroo,” said Rea, “and a big thank you to everyone who gave me this opportunity to race here.

"We picked up a bike from a Honda dealer on Wednesday and were still putting it together on Friday so credit must go to my mechanics who worked hard and kept me upright all weekend.

"I enjoyed the track and rode 3 smart races, riding within myself and making no mistakes.”

“I talked to my team boss at Honda, Ronald Ten Kate, and there were a few guys here who he wanted me to beat, one of whom said he had plenty in reserve and, ultimately, didn’t step up to the mark, so I took great motivation from that.

"It all worked out perfectly and whilst it was a shame we couldn’t make it an Ulster 1-2-3, it’s been a great weekend and I must thank Ronald and the Hannspree Honda ten Kate team for letting me race here.”

There was disappointment when the riders came to the line as Shannon Johnson was unable to start on his KTM, the legacy of the problems he endured in race 2 but that mattered little to Rea and he grabbed the holeshot from Lowry, Seeley and Andrew Pitt.

The order remained the same until lap four when Seeley slid off, fortunately without injury, at the final turn and whilst Rea was easing away from Lowry the battle for third was raging with Pitt, Jeremy McWilliams, Daniel Stauffer and Simon Andrews having a terrific dice.

By half race distance, Rea’s lead was up to 2 seconds whilst Lowry enjoyed a four-second advantage over Pitt in third but the former World Supersport Champion had his hands full with McWilliams, Stauffer and Andrews.

Just a lap later this became the battle for third as Lowry was forced to stop when his exhaust fell off although he was able to get going again for 12th.

With Rea and Pitt secure in first and second, Stauffer looked like he had secured third in the closing stages but Andrews had different ideas and eased through at the final corner with one lap to go.

The BSB star held off Stauffer with McWilliams not too far behind in fifth. Cameron Keevers had another solid ride into sixth whilst behind a fine five rider battle went all the way to the line with Keith Amor coming out on top in seventh just ahead of Conor Cummins, Guy Martin and Ben Stronach.

Ian Lougher took 13th with Ryan Farquhar two places further back, the Irish National champion entertaining the crowds with wheelies after being given a 15-second penalty for a jump start.

The overall result saw Rea take a maximum 75 points with Pitt taking full advantage of Lowry and Seeley’s misfortune to claim second. The results saw a three way tie for third overall with Lowry, Stauffer and Andrews sharing the place with McWilliams just a few points further back in sixth.

Race 3 Result
1 Jonathan Rea (Hon-GB)
2 Andrew Pitt (Hon-AUS) +8.635s
3 Simon Andrews (Kaw-GB) +9.332s
4 Daniel Stauffer (Yam-AUS) +11.816s
5 Jeremy McWilliams (KTM-GB) +11.967s
6 Cameron Keevers (Hon-AUS) +16.821s
7 Keith Amor (Yam-GB) +19.804s
8 Conor Cummins (Yam-GB) +20.046s
9 Guy Martin (Hon-GB) +20.201s
10 Ben Henry (Yam-AUS) +20.550s

Overall Results
1 Jonathan Rea – 75pts
2 Andrew Pitt – 53pts
3 Ian Lowry – 47pts
= Daniel Stauffer – 47pts
= Simon Andrews – 47pts
6 Jeremy McWilliams – 44pts
7 Cameron Keevers – 40pts
8 Alastair Seeley – 37pts
9 Ben Henry – 32pts
10 Ben Stronach – 30pts




Successful Portimao test for Hannspree Ten Kate
Published: October 29, 2009


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