MOTORBIKES: Jonathan Rea back to business at Imola World Superbike races

The current reigning champion leads the series with 181 points from a possible 200, has finished every race on the podium, and has bagged five race wins.

Those figures speak for themselves but the defending champion, who has won five times at Imola, feels there is more to come when he unlocks all the secrets of his new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R.

“I have always been really lucky to have a great reception from the Italian fans,” said the Ballyclare man. “I enjoy riding there. The culture, the food, the parkland track itself; everything seems nice and the layout is kind of like the tracks I grew up on in the British Superbike Championship.

“In the past I have had some good results at Imola and some race wins. After the amazing weekend we had in Assen extending our championship lead was great. But it’s back to business this week and trying to keep that target in mind during every weekend now - trying to improve our championship position.

“As I said recently, it is not just Imola but these next three races are all-important because the races are week-on/week-off. It is important to remain healthy throughout these races and score points. The key to the weekend is set-up on Friday. We have seen how critical it has been in Aragon and also Assen with the weather change.”