Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea would like to carry on his Aragon podium momentum into this weekend’s Assen World Superbike round and is preparing for a mixed weekend of weather at his team’s home track.

The Castletown resident took a hard-fought third place at the Spanish track and feels he is making headway with setup on the Fireblade which bodes well for the rest of the season.

“I’m really looking forward to riding at Assen this weekend because it’s a circuit that I really enjoy. There are lots of passing places and there’s usually a fast group at the front, which I hope to be a part of,” said Rea.

“I’ve spent quite a bit of time there with my team over the years, and done quite a few laps developing the bike, so I hope we can get it dialled in quite quickly this weekend. Of course, a lot of that will depend on the weather because, although we’re at the end of April, it can still be unpredictable, so we’ll have to work on both wet and dry settings so we can aim for two good results.

“We’ve had a solid start to the season, with top five finishes and a podium at Aragon, so we’ll try to carry that momentum into the Assen weekend.”