Castrol Honda's Jonathan Rea will debut the electronic ride-by-wire throttle system he used at the recent Misano test at this weekend's Imola World Superbike round with one eye on developing it for next year.
The system, which was quickly approved by a meeting of the Superbike Commission last week, is similar to that used by HM Plant Honda in British Superbikes and has paid dividends for Shane Byrne, who is third in the title fight.
"The Misano test last week was pretty good and allowed us to see the potential of the new ride-by-wire system. There’s more work to do though, and we’ll continue development of the package at Imola this weekend with one eye on the 2012 season, although of course I’ll be aiming for two good results for myself and the team," said the Irishman.
"Imola has so much history and I remember the great battle between Castrol Honda’s Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss there back in 2002. It’s a circuit I really enjoy riding but I didn’t have so much luck last year, crashing out of a really wet Superpole and breaking my wrist, which ended my season a little prematurely. Since then, I’ve had a similar injury on my other wrist, but it was good to come back at Nurburgring in the last round."
