Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea has never raced on the Laguna Seca circuit before this weekend’s World Superbike round, and the track rookie still ended up on the podium – a third place finish in race two.
The Northern Irishman has hailed the rostrum finish as ‘phenomenal’ and never thought he would be in the top three on only his first time at the track. He messed up qualifying after crashing towards the end of Superpole two, leaving with him to contend with a fourth row start, but he soon made up for that mistake.
But Rea did benefit from the red flag incidents in race two, and was able to power through to overtake Red Devils Roma’s more experienced rider, Toni Elias and Voltcom Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty to snatch third.
“The first time to come to this circuit and be on the box is phenomenal. I made a stupid mistake in Superpole which meant we had a really bad start but my guys have worked really hard to give me a competitive bike and to run at the front. I had a bit of help with the red flags, but I am so happy to be here, I love this circuit and it is a nice result to go into the summer break with,” said Rea.
