WSBK : Jonathan Rea tops FP1 in rain swept Monza

The fourth round of World Superbike season at Monza kicked off with the first free practice at the temple of speed on a rain swept wet track, which was less about top speed and more about avoiding dangerous crashes in tricky conditions in the various parts of the circuit.

Remembering all the controversy surrounding last year’s wet/dry conditions at Monza and last year’s intermediate tire that was blasted by riders, this year Pirelli has disegned a new one especially for this round, the Diablo Wet.

Taking the top of the timesheets in the first 45-minute session was Jonathan Rea who posted a best lap in 2.05.912 early on. The Pata Honda rider is debuting a new fuel tank to optimise aerodynamics and better electronics.

BMW’s Ayrton Badovini jumped up to second in the finale with his Panigale that now has a different air restrictor and demoting Tom Sykes to third after the Kawasaki rider had held the position for the entire practice.

Kousuke Akiyoshi, who is replacing injured Leon Haslam seemed particularly at ease in the difficult conditions as fourth fastest overall in his debut on Pata Honda’s Fireblade.

Jules Cluzel was 5th and the last rider to within a second from Rea, while Eugene Laverty, Loris Baz, Chaz Davies, Leon Camier and Marco Melandri closed out the top ten with very few completed laps around the circuit.

Missing from the grid is HTM Racing’s Ivan Clemente. The team has decided to sit out this weekend’s round

2013 WSBK Monza FP1 results:

1 J. REA GBR Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 2′05.912
2 A. BADOVINI ITA Team Ducati Alstare Ducati 1199 Panigale R 2′06.166 +0.254
3 T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 2′06.347 +0.435
4 K. AKIYOSHI JPN Pata Honda World Superbike Honda CBR1000RR 2′06.598 +0.686
5 J. CLUZEL FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 2′06.632 +0.720
6 E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2′07.142 +1.230
7 L. BAZ FRA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10R 2′07.840 +1.928
8 C. DAVIES GBR BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 2′07.910 +1.998
9 L. CAMIER GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 2′08.681 +2.769
10 M. MELANDRI ITA BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK BMW S1000 RR 2′08.781 +2.8693