MOTORCYCLING: It'll be even tougher in 2010 - Rea
ULSTER'S Jonathan Rea succeeded in achieving his goals in his rookie year in the World Superbike Championship, but the gritty Ulsterman feels he faces an even tougher challenge in the series in 2010.
Rea will remain with the Dutch-based Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team following a sensational debut season in the series during which the 22-year-old notched two victories and finished on the podium eight times in total to secure fifth position overall in the points table behind Max Biaggi.
He will be partnered in the Hannspree Honda team next year by German rider Max Neukirchner, who replaces former MotoGP star Carlos Checa.
Following a steady start to the '09 campaign, Rea's performances progressed on an upward trajectory as continued development work on his CBR1000-RR Fireblade, including a successful switch to Ohlins suspension, began to pay dividends and he earned the honour of ending the year as Honda's top performer in the championship.
Rea feels there is still plenty of potential to improve his Honda Superbike for next season's assault on the series, but is under no illusions about the difficulty he faces as he aims to improve on his fifth place finish this year, with James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow spearheading the factory Yamaha charge and British Superbike ace Sylvain Guintoli joining Britain's Leon Haslam in a new-look Alstare Suzuki line-up.
Ducati has also retained the services of Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio as the Italian marque battles to wrestle the crown away from Yamaha next year after MotoGP-bound Ben Spies edged out Haga for the crown following a season-long battle.
"Reflecting on 2009 I have reached my target, which was originally to win a race and finish in the top six in the championship," Rea said.
"Next year will be even harder though, especially with Ducati being strong, a fresh line-up at Suzuki and Yamaha and the rapidly improving Aprilia.
"I have confidence in my team and to be honest I've seen a lot of changes within the team that make us stronger week in, week out.
"I'm also excited about my new team-mate Max (Neukirchner), as I've known him for quite some time now (and we've been] hanging out away from the circuit."
Rea laid down a marker at the end-of-season World Superbike tests in Portugal following the final championship round at the Portimao circuit last month, setting the fastest time.
"The whole test went really well and we worked hard as a team to get a really good setting from the machine," he said.
"I spent the whole race weekend there, so the base setting was already quite good but in a no-pressure situation we were able to work outside the box and try some new and exciting things for 2010. Some of those things were forks, brake pads, swing arms and a little bit of electronics work. I have a great crew chief and data guy that are working well together and at the next test we will base most of our work on electronics, as that's an area that we feel we can improve the most."
His team boss, Ronald ten Kate, says the Larne rider exceeded all expectations this season.
"2009 was described for him as a learning year in World Superbikes. We were hoping for a couple of podiums and maybe a win and we got more than that, so we are more than happy with his results this season, especially in the second half of the season when the bike was truly competitive again," said the Dutch team owner.
"The story of the year of course was the change of suspension in the middle (of the season]. That decision had to be made, and looking back maybe we should have made it last winter."
Ten Kate confirmed that Rea and Neukirchner will undertake a pre-season test at Valencia in Spain on December 9-10 and at Portimao in Portugal at the end of January.
In September, Rea agreed terms with the Hannspree Ten Kate team to remain with Honda in World Superbikes until the end of the 2011 season after fine-tuning the original three-year Superbike deal he penned with the team in 2008, when he finished as the runner-up in the World Supersport Championship at his debut attempt.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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