REA THIRD FASTEST ON DAY ONE IN CATALUNYA 

Jonathan Rea completed the first day of track action third quickest overall at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for round four of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship.

The weather was warm and dry for Friday’s opening action at the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona with the second free practice session in the afternoon proving to be hotter than the first. The track temperature almost reached 50°C in FP2.

Rea finished up on the ‘virtual’ overnight front row thanks to his 1m 41.652 lap-time from the morning session, which was held in cooler conditions. 

The focus now shifts to Superpole Qualifying and WorldSBK race one on Saturday.

STATEMENTS:

Jonathan Rea said: “We used something on the bike today to change the front geometry. It was a strange day for me because I had mixed feelings this morning. The temperature was lower and I was relatively fast but I didn’t have a really good feeling. It seemed like I was competitive, even with some laps in the tyres, as I had a similar drop to our main rivals. We pursued that new set-up into the afternoon but I didn’t feel good on the bike. The feeling to get to the apex at the end of the braking stage meant I had no confidence. The heat just amplified that problem. It was a bit frustrating today but we had to try something, so tomorrow we will try to improve on the base that we had at the test.”