Buildbase Suzuki’s Gino Rea was the surprise pace-setter in today’s opening Bennetts British Superbike free practice at Silverstone and says he still has some real to work on before qualifying tomorrow.
The Londoner is standing in as Keith Farmer recovers from injury but put on a display today to end well inside the existing lap record and just under two-tenths ahead of series leader Glenn Irwin on the works Honda.
“The session today couldn’t have gone any better. To come away in P1 is refreshing for me, and for the team. Snetterton was pretty hard as it was a new team and a new bike, but we made steady progress over the weekend and made some subtle changes for this weekend that we didn’t have time to do at the previous round,” said Rea.
“That along with the bike seeming to suit the circuit, means it couldn’t have gone any better. I felt good on the bike and it’s nice to be back at Silverstone as I missed this event last year. We still have some areas to work on but to be P1 on a Friday is really nice so thanks to the team for putting out such a great package.
“It was really close in that session and anything can happen and that is the same for qualifying. It will be close tomorrow but I want to replicate what we have done today, make a few small changes and try and keep it up.
“We wasn’t expecting to be P1 that’s for sure so if I can qualify on the front three rows I will be happy as I think I can do quite a consistent pace. It is going to be a close race that’s for sure so don’t miss it.”
