Jonathan Rea WorldSBK return “tougher than I expected”

Jonathan R🌠ea has admitted that his return to WorldSBK has been “tougher than I expectꦯed”.

Jonathan Rea, 2025 Italian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
Jonathan Rea, 2025 Italian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose

The long-awaited return to racing for 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Jonathan Rea at the Italian WorldSBK was a “tougher weekend than I expected,”♊ according to the Northern Irish rider.

This weekend’s WorldSBK Italian Round was Rea’s first 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:World Superbike event since the Spanish Round at Jerez last October, the six-time💖 champion having suffered mu✱ltiple fractures in his left foot while testing at Phillip Island in February.

The two-and-aཧ-half months without riding a WorldSBK machine had not only al𝔍lowed Rea’s foot to heal but also for his race fitness to erode.

That, combined with a relatively unfamiliarꦇ Yamaha R1 with the new Superconcession chassis, resulted in a weekend without points for Rea, who was ultimately pleased to have been able to ride after such an amount o൩f time off and to complete the weekend.

“It’𝔍s been a tougher weekend than I expectedꦅ, but I knew we had to start somewhere,” Rea said after Race 2 at Cremona.

“The target of the weekend in my own mind was just to try and commit to racing, get passed fit and do my best to complete all three rꦰaces with no mist🦂akes.

“We completed that target, of course I wasn’t as competitive as I wanted to be, but considering I was only fulꦜly weight-bearing and walking without my air boot three weeks ago I can accept that.”

Rea said that his physical struggles were more in his 🗹upper body than in the foot he injured in Austra✅lia.

“Coming back at Cremona, a track I didn’t race at last year and also super physical, I suffered more in my upper body than I did in my ✅foot to be honest, because I was compensating quite a lot riding with my arms instead of my legs,” he explained.

“Even though the bike didn’t feel perfect, the team has done everything to try to make me more comfortable 𓄧and encourage me through this difficult week▨end.

“𝐆I have no doubt better days are coming! It was always going to be a process whether I came back here or came back in Most, so [this is] ‘weekend one’ and hopefully we can g🧔et on a roll forward from this point.”

Locatelli: “A really difficult weekend for us

While 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Andrea Locatelli was able to finish in the top-10 in both Sunday races following his crash in Race 1, the🗹 Italian was left to conclude that his home round had been “really dif♍ficult”.

“It was a🅘 really difficult weekend for us, unfortunately we did not take any good results here in C⛄remona,” he said.

“We were fighting to start from further back on the grid – but it dꦰoes not matter about this because also when I made a great start in Race 2 it was difficult to stay there.

“We need to look at what happened🐠 and how to improve because I was fighting a lot wit💃h a big, big vibration this morning and all Sunday.

“Now, I am looking forward and don’t think too muc𓄧h about the missed opportunity – it was a big shame to not be faster, after the good events like Portimao and Assen, I was expecting that also here we could be fast.

“Sometimes in the racing life this happens!”

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