Jonathan Rea was only able to achieve one sixth-place finish in Sunday’s two fourth-round World Superbike championship races at Monza in Italy.
Despite starting on the front row of the grid, Rea could not get away with the leading group in the first 18-lap race at the 5.777km Monza circuit in Italy. However, the 24-year-old Ulsterman fought his way past Australia’s Troy Corser in the final laps and was closing on fifth-placed Michel Fabrizio at the flag.
In race two, Rea was the victim of a first-corner crash for the second year running as he was hit on the right-hand side in the middle of the first part of Monza’s Prima Variante. Despite remounting and making his way back to the pits, his Castrol Honda crew were unable to repair his CBR1000RR in time for him to rejoin the race.
Jonathan Rea – 6th and DNF
“’Frustrating’, really, is the word, especially in race one when we just didn’t have the speed on the straight. I could match the laptimes when I was on my own and able to run the right lines. But as soon as I got involved in a race with anyone who slowed me down in the places I was fast, I got forced off the line and lost the speed. Sixth was OK but certainly not what I’d hoped for. I’ll have to see the footage of race two to find out what really happened, but I feel like I got clipped from the inside which forced me up and into the guy on the outside. We’re going to Miller [Motorsports Park, USA] next, which has another long straight, so I hope the guys back at base can find something. Luckily, we’re testing there the week before the race so I hope that gives us at least a chance to do better than last year.”
Ronald ten Kate – team manager
“Of course, we all feel very sorry for Jonathan because we could see he did not have the speed in the bike today that is required at Monza. Everyone in the team felt his frustration in race one and to have his second race ended at the first corner – just like last year – did not improve things at all. Thankfully, he is completely uninjured and will be fit enough to test some new parts that we have to try at Miller.”
2011 World Superbike championship, round four
Monza, Italy (5.777km), 18 laps
Race one:
1. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Yamaha 31m09.584s
2. Max Biaggi (ITA) Aprilia +1.575s
3. Leon Haslam (GBR) BMW +3.078s
6. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Castrol Honda +12.371s
Race two:
1. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Yamaha 31m19.948s
2. Marco Melandri (ITA) Yamaha +0.327s
3. Michel Fabrizio (ITA) Suzuki +2.466s
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