Rea chasing Imola repeat
Jonathan Rea is eagerly anticipating the World Superbike Championship's return to Imola, the venue where he claimed a memorable victory last season.
In 2011, returning to racing after a long injury lay-off, the result of a serious wrist injury, Rea secured a surprise victory around the 4.933km Imola circuit.
It was the second of the Brit's two wins for the season, the first being at Assen, and helped him bag a top-ten finish to the campaign.
Now the Honda World Superbike Team rider is hoping for a repeat performance as he seeks his first podium finish of the Championship.
"I can't tell you how excited I am at the prospect of riding my bike again this weekend," said Rea, who is currently fifth in the standings after a P7 and P4 at Phillip Island.
"It seems like a lifetime since the opening round in Phillip Island so I'm raring to go again at Imola.
"I love racing in Italy - the food, the culture, everything about it is special - and Imola has some pretty special memories for me, especially winning last year after a long injury lay-off.
"That was the first time we rolled out on the ride-by-wire system last year and we've done a lot of work on it since then, so it'll be really interesting to benchmark where we are against our performance last season.
"I've been doing a lot of thinking and a lot of research since Phillip Island and I'm looking forward to putting what I've learned into practice this weekend."
