Cycle News Staff | September 25, 2010
Hannspree Ten Kate Honda’s Jonathan Rea may miss Sunday’s penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship after breaking his wrist and collarbone in wet Superpole qualifying in Imola, Italy.The 23-year-old Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Brit topped the final free practice before Superpole. Then he crashed in the first chicane on his out lap in Superpole one, suffering small fractures in his left collarbone and scaphoid.That didn’t prevent him from qualifying in Superpole 2 on his spare bike, though he wasn’t able to transfer to Superpole 3 and will start Sunday’s races from row four.Rea will be evaluated before morning warm-up to determine if he can compete in Sunday’s two 21-lap races on the historic Enzo e Dino Ferrari Circuit.”Today went really well until Superpole,” Rea said. “We were making a few changes here and there and then I had a little hiccup with the machine in the second free practice. But I was able to go out on the other bike and went straight back into a good rhythm to go fastest. Then it started to rain for Superpole and we put wets in, but I’ve never ridden this circuit in the wet and I was caught out in the first chicane like a few other guys. Unfortunately, I went down pretty hard on my left side and I’ve got a lot of pain in my shoulder and my wrist. The doctors think they can get me in a condition to race tomorrow but it’s really one of these situations where we’ll have to see how it feels in the morning.”
