MANILA, Philippines - Jonathan Rea took his Castrol Honda CBR1000RR to the top step of the podium at a sun-drenched Imola in Italy recently, winning the opening race of last weekend’s eleventh round of the 2011 World Superbike championship.
The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland, whose season ended in injury during the corresponding round last year, almost made it a dream return as he also led race two from the moment the lights went out. With only four laps remaining, Rea held a 3.5 second lead over Carlos Checa when a connector on his machine’s battery failed, forcing him to pit.
Checa inherited victory to go with his third place in race one, while Noriyuki Haga, who had pushed Rea all the way to the flag in the first outing, finished second again in race two, ahead of Leon Camier.
Rea and his Castrol Honda team arrived at Imola seeking to develop a new ride-by-wire system for the 2012 season and the new Honda CBR1000RR which was unveiled at Imola on Friday evening.
They admitted to being prepared to sacrifice results in pursuit of that goal but Rea’s team-mate, Ruben Xaus, was also developing the new electronics system. The Spaniard made a big step forward himself in the second race, finishing just outside the top ten, after placing 17 in race one.