Rea eager to strike straight back as WorldSBK heads to Portimao
Jonathan Rea has set his sights on his first full points win of the 2020 WorldSBK Championship season as he looks to break down the gap established by new series leader Scott Redding.
The Briton has endured an uncustomary temperamental start to the 2020 season on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR, winning the Superpole Races at Phillip Island and Jerez but enduring indifferent results in the other more lucrative full-length events.
Finishing down in sixth position during the second Jerez WorldSBK race just days ago, Rea is eager to bounce straight back in Portimao this weekend having ceded a 24-point margin to Redding at the head of the standings.
“Portimao is a circuit that has been kind to us in the past and it suits the nature of our bike. There are a lot of areas where we can exploit the strengths of our Ninja ZX-10RR. I enjoy the challenge of the circuit as it is very undulating and it is the closest thing you get to a motocross track.
“The changes of elevation and blind corners; it really takes a lot of rider input and set-up to make a perfect lap. I am looking forward to starting on Friday with the team again and the emphasis will be on understanding how our base set-up works there, especially in the heat.
“We will possibly face hot temperatures like we have just had this past weekend. We will confirm everything because it was working pretty OK in Jerez. Our goal is to improve the feeling, work toward the races and at the end the target is to win.”
Team-mate Alex Lowes endured a troubled return to action in Spain after having his efforts hampered by a poor qualifying performance, but expects a step in performance for Portugal.
“I am looking forward to Portimao after not the easiest weekend in Jerez but I learned a lot about the bike. I had not had too much experience of the Kawasaki in the heat so the past weekend was about understanding it and learning the best way to ride the bike and adapt my style to the bike rather than chasing a setting.
“We made some good steps and hopefully that will put us in a good position at Portimao. It is not the easiest track but it is one I really enjoy. I think that the Kawasaki is going to work well there. I am looking forward to trying it for the first time on the ZX-10RR.
“I am happy we have had only had a few days until we get back out, because we were building momentum over the weekend in Jerez. We can just focus on starting on Friday morning and building from there. It is going to be good fun.”
