Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea was king of the Imola World Superbike Hill today despite not being able to stop his ZX-10R sufficiently in two braking areas so he is going to lengthen the bike tomorrow to see if it helps.

The Isle of Man resident is a little under two-tenths faster than team-mate Tom Sykes and a further tenth faster than hometown hero Davide Giugliano but Rea says there is more to come if he can get braking more under control.

“We have made a lot of changes with engine braking and it hasn’t really touched the problem. The wheelbase is a little too short and I am overloading the front so tomorrow we will lengthen the bike a little,” said Rea, speaking at the track.

“We will see if that settles the bike down and keep the rear on the ground as that is when I am at my happiest and I can try to be precise but right now the rear is in the air so I can’t stop. Turn one and turn six are the problem areas, Giugliano is so strong there, he has four tenths on everyone so we need to improve there.”