BSB: Gino Rea replaces injured Keith Farmer at Buildbase Suzuki for Snetterton

Gino Rea will ride for the Buildbase Suzuki team at Snetterton this weekend, deputising for the injured Keith Farmer. 

Farmer tore his ACJ ligament – which holds the shoulder and collarbone together – during the qualifying session for the Bennetts British Superbike Championship season opener at Donington Park. As a result, Farmer required surgery on his shoulder and it’s not yet known when he will return. 

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Rea joins the squad after parting company with the Bike Devil Kawasaki team earlier this week. At Donington Park, Rea suffered a mechanical problem in race one, before going on to finish 19th and 12th in Sunday’s races.

“Obviously first and foremost I want to wish Keith well; it’s never nice to see a rider injured and especially to see him coming back from injury and be sidelined again so soon, so I wish him all the best,” Rea commented.

“For me, I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with a professional and experienced team in this paddock. I’ve got one full year of BSB under my belt and last year I had a few one-off rides, so I’m hoping the chance to work with the Buildbase Suzuki team will give me the chance to show what I can do. I’ve got past experience with the GSX-R so hopefully that base will mean we can get off to a good start this weekend.”

As he mentioned, Rea does have experience on the Suzuki GSX-R machine. He rode for the OMG Racing team during their maiden BSB campaign in 2018, before leaving the team just weeks after signing a new deal for 2019. During that season Rea achieved a best result of seventh at Silverstone. 

“Gino is a rider with a lot of experience, having raced in a variety of championships over the years, so we’re hoping that while he’s with us we can start to see the best of him at British Superbike level after a tricky year or two,” team manager Steve Hicken added. “Hopefully we can hit the ground running in the first free practice session at Snetterton.”

Rea will line-up alongside Kyle Ryde at Snetterton. Ryde will be looking to pick up where he left off at Donington Park, with the reigning British GP2 champion picking up a best finish of fourth at the opening round.