Gino Rea once again started the Misano World Supersport race weekend by recording a season best during Fridays Combined Free Practice sessions, finishing in 2nd position overall, just 0.156 from Kenan Sofuoglu, and again advancing directly into Superpole 2.
Gino made his trademark 'Speedy G' start off the line during Sundays World Supersport race to move up the order only to be pushed out wide at turn 3, resulting in finishing lap one in 11th. But, Rea's strong race pace and determination to get back to the front saw him battle his way through to 5th, battling with fellow Brit Kyle Smith and Puccetti Racing's Alex Bassani. In a hard-thought battle that saw Rea pushed wide and back to 7th in the Tramonto corner, Gino was able to get back into 6th and close the gap to Smith but was unable to re-pass, finished in 6th and only 13 seconds from race winner Kenan Sofuoglu. Gino was also the second highest placing Kawasaki and is confident of improvements and stronger races during the second half of the season.
Gino Rea #4 (WSS Race; 6th): “Following on from the improvement we made with the bike at Donington, we again had a very positive weekend, starting with P2 on Friday and P4 during Sundays warm up. At Donington we were not able to show our potential during the race because of the tyre but we were strong. During this race, the potential was shown and I had great pace. It's a little unfortunate I got sat up at turns 3 and 4 because I lost a lot of positions and time. But after that I was able to get back up to 5th and battle. I was ran wide at Tramonto and slipped back to 7th and it took me a while to re-pass Puccetti's Alex Bassani. I was able to catch Smith again who was in 5th but I was having to ride on the edge to get close enough to pass him. After a couple of near-crashes, I had to settle for a seasons best 6th. We are still lacking a little in certain areas and if we can improve them I am confident we can challenge for the podium places. It's nice to head into the summer break on the back of a positive weekend and the teams spirits are high which is nice. Unfortuantely we have a lot of time off now so I'll be itching to get back on my bike for the next round at Lausitzring in Germany.”
The next World Supersport race will take place at Lausitzring, Germany on 18th-20th August.
