Rea: “I felt better with more laps on the tyre”, still “on the limit”

Calling it ‘probably the best weekend of our season’, Rea was a contender in both feature length races until the closing stages.

Yes, the ZX-10RR was still missing performance which held Rea back, but he was closer to the race-winning time compared to a lot of races so far in 2023.

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"It was a solid weekend, probably the best weekend of our season so far," Rea told WorldSBK.com. "I’m really happy. Trying to keep this momentum now by fighting at the front. We knew Imola would be a stronger circuit for us, but nobody told us that on Friday! 

"On Friday, it was a difficult day and even Saturday morning, I didn’t seem to have that out and out pace or rhythm. 

"During the races, I felt better with more laps on the tyre and, unfortunately, at the end of the races here in this extreme heat, I was struggling a little but with the SC1 front tyre, it was moving. 

"When you’re on the limit and the front tyre’s moving, it’s more about consolidating your position, trying not to make any mistakes. 

"I didn’t make any mistakes, worked quite well with the team and we stuck to our guns with our rear tyre choice for Race 2. We came away with a bag-load of points."

Stronger than Andrea Locatelli over the full round, Rea again took more points out of the Yamaha rider in their battle for third in the championship. 

Unhappy with how he ended the Donington Park round, Rea felt as though he got the most out of Race 2 in Imola and has momentum heading into Most. 

Rea added: "When you finish the weekend on a good note, it’s always nice because that’s the last thought that you take into the next round. 

"It was nice to stand on the podium at Imola with a lot of my fans here. I’ve never ridden for an Italian manufacturer, and I don’t speak Italian, but we have a great relationship with the fans here. 

"Maybe it’s from my early days of riding. I want to thank them because they gave me a lot of power to not give up, keep working hard and we deserved our podium today."