Jonathan Rea – WSB countdown diary – Day 5

Having spent the last four days on the beach and having BBQ’s it was down to the serious stuff today with the first of a two day Superbike test at Phillip Island.

“I made my usual start to the day with a trip to the bakery and then it was straight to the track. I was dead excited to be getting out on the bike and I got straight on to a decent pace as soon as I went out on track. On my second lap I was in the 1m36’s and I stayed there for about 15 laps which was a good start.  

“I hit a bit of a brick wall mid morning with my set-up, but the WP suspension guys came up with a solution to try and it worked well and meant it was easier and I was lapping faster.

“After that I was at the sharp end all day, I don’t know anyone else’s times but the times we were doing were consistent and fast. I tried a few different tyres but because we’re only testing we don’t actually have that many tyres to work with. We tried a softer tyre but we couldn’t get that to last.

I got down to a 1m 33.2s lap this morning when the track was cool but with the changes we made I managed a 1m 32.9s when the track was hot. I missed my chance of setting a really fast lap because you have to do that in the morning when the track is cooler.

“Tomorrow my aim is to do two full race runs. I want to be ready for next weekend and by doing two race simulations will make it easier when we do the real thing.”

“I’ve done 112 laps today and I’m feeling good, I’m not that bothered if I go much faster tomorrow, we’ll just have to wait and see.”