Jonathan Rea tops weather-hit opening day at Donington Park World Superbike round

The Kawasaki rider is gunning for his first win of the season at his home round of the championship this weekend, when many of his fans will make the trip to the Leicestershire circuit from Northern Ireland.

Rea’s hopes of a seventh world crown this year are all but over, with reigning champion Alvaro Bautista winning 14 of the 15 races held so far this season to underline his dominance on the Aruba.it Ducati.

Currently fourth in the standings, Rea – the most successful World Superbike rider in history – is 169 points behind the Spaniard.

However, the 36-year-old Ulsterman will be aiming to put one over on his old rival at Donington to get off the mark in 2023, with Rea last spraying the victory champagne at the final round of the 2022 series at Phillip Island in Australia last November.

He has been encouraged following a recent hot weather test at Motorland Aragon in Spain and has set his sights on reaching the podium for the first time since Catalunya in early May.

“I’m full of optimism,” said Rea, who was only 0.012s faster than Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha).

“We’ve had good results at Donington Park in the past and [are] coming here after a test last week at Aragon, where we were able to understand some new items and keep working on our pace in the hotter conditions.

“We’ve always been able to get away with the softer tyre here at Donington Park with the SCQ and SCX but we need to understand tyre choice too.

“The target is the podium and it would be amazing to come away from Donington with a good haul of points. Standing on the podium at your home race would be very special.”

Rea’s time from FP1 gave him the top spot after he did not participate in the rain-lashed afternoon session, when only a handful of riders went out.

Bautista was eighth fastest, half-a-second down, while Rea’s team-mate Alex Lowes was fifth, narrowly ahead of series rookie Bradley Ray (Motoxracing Yamaha) and Donington specialist Tom Sykes (ROKiT BMW).

Team Go Eleven Ducati’s Philipp Oettl was third quickest from Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing Ducati).

Rea has won six times at Donington, a venue he describes as a ‘special’ race on the calendar.

“It is a special one in the season because it’s a home race, with lots of family and friends there,” he said.

“Growing up in the BSB paddock, some of the same fans turn out now just like they did then, so you feel like you know everyone. It really helps that we have had good success there in the past.”

Race one on Saturday is at 14:00 BST, with Sunday’s Sprint race scheduled for 11:00 BST followed by race three at 16:00 BST.