Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea set the quickest time on a very soggy and wet Monza circuit, as he clocked a 2’05.92 in the opening World Superbike free practice session this morning.
The Isle of Man resident remained at the top of the timesheets for the majority of the forty five minute session. Rea overtook Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes to go quickest after 26 minutes, and even with charges from Ducati Alstare’s Ayrton Badovini it was not enough to topple Rea, who was the only rider to break into the 2’05 barrier. Italian Badovini was marginally quicker than Sykes with a 2’06.166, pushing Huddersfield’s finest to third.
Rea’s team-mate for this round, all-Japan Superbike Champion, Kosuke Akiyoshi looked like he wanted to make the most of his time at Monza, and completed ten laps and appeared undeterred by the pouring rain. He finished the session in fourth, with a time of 2’06.598. Akiyoshi is the replacement for the injured Leon Haslam, who suffered a nasty leg injury at Assen, but he has vowed to return for the next round at Donington Park.
Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Jules Cluzel only went round the Italian track three times, but that proved enough for the Frenchman as his laps placed him in the top five, and that is where he remained for the rest of the session. Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty did actually top the time-sheets after ten minutes, but he was eventually overtaken by Cluzel and then Sykes and finished with a time of 2’07.142.
GoldBet BMW’s Chaz Davies and Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier were setting similar lap times, but it was the tall Welshman, rather than the tall Englishman who came out the fastest at the end of the session, with Davies deciding to go out in the dying seconds to go eighth fastest with a time of 2’07.910, followed by Camier who on his fifth lap set his quickest time of 2’08.681.
Aussie rider, Effenbert Liberty Racing’s Mark Aitchison was clearly not put off by the wet conditions, as he completed the most laps of the circuit, fourteen in total. But it was not enough to make an impact in the top ten, and he had to settle for thirteenth, with a time of 2’09.456.
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