Jonathan Rea targets first World Superbike win of new season at Mandalika in Indonesia

The Kawasaki rider kicked off the new season with a strong ride in the wet to second place in the opening race last weekend at Phillip Island in Australia.

However, Rea could only manage seventh in the dry Superpole race and eighth in race two on Sunday, leaving him 31 points behind reigning champion Alvaro Bautista, who completed a perfect clean sweep of all three races on the Aruba.it Ducati.

Rea, joint third in the standings with Bautista’s team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi after the first round, says he believes he can show his true potential this weekend in Indonesia, where free practice gets under way at the Mandalika International Street Circuit on the island of Lombok on Friday.

“It’s been a tough week leaving Australia without the points we set out to gain,” said the six-time world champion.

“Everything was going quite smoothly up until race day – hard to draw any big conclusions as to why.

“The bike balance is quite different to what we had during testing. Back to square one this weekend with a bike we know should work.

“We need to try and be more competitive. We’ll forget last weekend, we want to be strong this weekend whether it’s wet, dry, windy, whatever,” Rea added.

“I think we have a good chance this weekend to fight for podium. Our target is much more than that.

“I want to win a race and get my season off to a proper start.”

Rea has won a record 118 races in World Superbikes throughout his career, with 103 of those victories achieved since he joined the Kawasaki Racing Team in 2015.

The Ballyclare man has won twice at Mandalika and claimed three rostrum finishes in the five races held at the new venue, which made its debut on the WSBK calendar in 2021.

Championship pacesetter Bautista twice finished as the runner-up last year in Indonesia, where Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu dominated with a treble.

Bautista felt he struggled with the front of his Ducati at Mandalika in 2022 but hopes the problem will be resolved this weekend.

“Last year, we struggled a bit here, so maybe we have many things to think about,” he said.

“With the weather here, it’s unpredictable, so you have to adapt a plan depending on the track condition.

“The biggest problem was on the front as Pirelli didn’t bring the tyre I had used for most of last season. This year, they have brought it, so I’m looking forward to see if the problem I have felt has gone.

“What is sure is that here last year, Toprak went fast, and Jonathan was really competitive, so I expect them to fight for the victory in all three races.”

On Saturday, race one is scheduled for 05:30 GMT while the Superpole race on Sunday takes place at 02:30 GMT. Race two is due at 05:30 GMT.

After this weekend, the championship breaks for seven weeks until Assen in the Netherlands hosts round three from April 21-23.