Barcelona Test Starts Well For Rea

Jonathan Rea enjoyed a full opening day of testing at KRT’s home circuit of Montmelo in Catalunya, ending the first day of the two-day test with the second quickest time against all of the main 2020 season opposition. 

With track temperatures almost hitting 50°C today, five time WorldSBK champion Rea finished up with a best lap of 1.41.911. One more day of testing remains at the 4.627km long circuit located within a stone’s throw of the team’s headquarters in Granollers.

After Thursday’s final day of testing at Montmelo – a regular MotoGP host venue but an ‘all-new’ one in WorldSBK racing terms – the season re-starts for real at the well-known Jerez circuit in Andalusia, with racedays scheduled on 1st and 2nd August.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “In the January test I kind of understood where the Montmelo track went, and I really enjoyed it, but we were not really riding in anger. Today I really enjoyed the track and did a lot of laps. I felt like I just picked up automatically and I can feel the bike really well. The bike is turning great and that is the biggest issue we have had in the past – especially at Jerez. When the temperature comes up it is hard to turn around those long corners. I used the rear tyre so much because I was turning on the rear all the time. But it seems like we made a huge step in that direction because the bike is turning really well. I felt things were happening quite normally today.”