Reigning World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea goes into this weekend’s Laguna Seca round with a whopping 66-point lead in his bid to become the first man since 1999 to win consecutive World Superbike titles, but the Kawasaki man is focusing on the challenge ahead rather than looking too far forward.

The Isle of Man resident would like to increase the series lead before WSBK heads into its monumental, two-month summer break but says that carrying on the momentum he has had over the past two races is more important and that he finally understands what the new ZX-10R needs.

“I really enjoy Laguna, it’s a circuit that’s technical and challenging, and I think it suits our bike really well,” Rea told Bikesport News before heading to San Francisco.

“Coming off the back of two really strong weekends, we’re finally really understanding the new bike, we have got a good handle on it and starting to open the operating window. Before it was very small but now with our base setting we have a broad range in terms of tracks and operating temperatures.

“I am really keen to get there and understand where we are in terms of performance,” he said. “Last year we were competitive in both races. It is a really strong track for Chaz and we managed to be quite close to him.

“It would be nice to increase my championship lead but that’s not the priority. We need to be strong and continue where we have been in the last couple of rounds.”

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