REA FASTEST AS NEW SEASON BEGINS 

Jonathan Rea finished the first day of 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship track action in first place on the combined timesheets at Motorland Aragon. 

Rea was fast in the morning session, relying on his FP1 time to set his class-leading overnight pace. His best Friday lap was set very early in the opening session, as he had arrived at the track full of confidence. His best of 1’49.301 was 0.305 seconds faster than the rider in second place. 

The track and ambient temperatures were higher today than those experienced during the recent tests, which introduced the element of evaluating tyre choices in readiness to face whatever weather conditions are experienced in the 18-lap Race One on Saturday afternoon.

Race One will take place at 14.00 (GMT +1) on Saturday 9 April, after the final FP3 session and Superpole qualifying have been completed. An all new qualifying rear tyre has been brought into use by Pirelli for the 2022 season, which will make Superpole a particularly interesting session before the riders fight it out for the first championship points of the new season.

Sunday 10 April will feature the ten lap Superpole Race at 11.00 local time, and the final 18-lap Race Two will take place at 14.00.

 STATEMENTS:

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): “I am satisfied with today. We just kept working in the same way as we did at the tests, polishing some items. I think the test was the hardest work as we defined the package that we will race with this weekend. I worked on a longer run today, in the afternoon, on one option of tyre, just to have the information about it. On the front we also tried an option during our long run. Now I think we are quite equipped to know what to do tomorrow. It will all depend on the track temperature. My rhythm here is quite OK and if I need to push for a lap time I know I can be fast over one lap as well. So, it is just understanding what temperature we will have tomorrow and trying to make a good start. It’s the first race of the year and I am super-excited about it. I never had that feeling until today. It always felt a bit more exciting at Phillip Island going there to start the season, because it had a different ambience. But now I am pretty excited to race!”