REA LOOKING FORWARD TO FIRST FLYAWAY
After nine European-based rounds Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki Racing Team will head to the Circuito San Juan Villicum in Argentina this weekend, Friday 21 to Sunday 23 October, to take part in the tenth round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship.
At the previous round in Portugal Rea scored three podium places as he remained in third place overall in the championship fight. There are still nine points scoring races left to run, including the San Juan contests, with Rea looking to reduce the gap to championship leader Alvaro Bautista this weekend.
Jonathan has raced at San Juan three times before and has won four races. He has scored a further four podium places, making him understandably happy to go back to the relatively new Argentinian track, located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, near the border with Chile.
The San Juan Villicum venue is an impressive modern facility, with a unique double level start/finish straight and a very long back straight. It’s elevation, at over 700 metres above sea level, is another noteworthy feature. It was first used for WorldSBK racing in 2018.
Weekend Schedule: (GMT -3)
Friday:
Free Practice 1 - 10:30-11:15
Free Practice 2 - 15:00-15:45
Saturday:
Free Practice 3 - 10:00-10:30
Superpole Qualifying - 12:10-12:25
WorldSBK Race 1 - 15:00 (21 laps)
Sunday:
Warm Up: - 10:00-10:15
Tissot Superpole Race - 12:00 (10 laps)
WorldSBK Race 2 - 15:00 (21 laps)
Jonathan Rea said: “Argentina can’t come soon enough after a more difficult Portimao than we expected. Argentina kick-starts the flyaway races and it is a really busy time of the year. We will try and keep some momentum going. We will keep working with Pere, Davide and all my crew to try and maximise the potential of the bike. Portimao highlighted a few areas we need to improve, and being strong at the end of the races is an area we will focus on in Argentina. The circuit does not have a lot of activity so we will have to understand how the grip level is on day one and work from there. I really like the track and it has given me some good memories in the past. The atmosphere is always cool around the flyaways so we’ll try to take that feel-good factor and turn it into some good results.”