Rea clinches Suzuka podium

WSB frontrunner puts in impressive performance at prestigious 8-hour event

WORLD SUPERBIKE rider Jonathan Rea took third spot on the podium at last weekend's Suzuka 8 Hour race in Japan.

The race was won by Rea's former BSB team-mate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, after a thrilling battle throughout the 8-hour event.

The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland said after the race:

“First of all, I want to thank all my team and the Japanese fans,” said Rea afterwards. “Today was a tough day.  We had some unexpected troubles and mistakes, so to be honest I am not so happy. Yet working well together with Akiyoshi and repeatedly telling myself ‘never give up, keep going’, we were able to get into third place. If I have a chance, I want to participate in the Suzuka 8 Hours again!”

2010 Suzuka 8-Hour Results

1 Musashi RT HARC-PRO (R.Kiyonari/T.Takahashi/T.Nakagami), 215 laps, Honda
2 Keihin Kohara Racing (S.Ito/M.Tamada), 214 laps, Honda
3 F.C.C. TSR Honda (K.Akiyoshi/J.Rea/Y.Takahashi), 213 laps, Honda
4 Plot Faro Panthera (O.Deguchi/T.Yasuda/Y.Kodama), 212 laps, Suzuki
5 Team Plus One (S.Iwata/Y.Teshima), 211 laps, Honda
6 Yoshimura Suzuki with Enos (Y.Kagayama/D.Sakai/N.Aoki), 211 laps, Suzuki
7 Teluru Honeybee Racing (H.Noda/T.Sekiguchi), 210 laps, Honda
8 Beet Racing (H.Takahasi/Y.Hatano/O.Nishijima), 208 laps, Kawasaki
9 Team Bolliger Switzerland (H.Saiger/P.Muff/R.Stamm), 206 laps, Kawasaki
10 Escargot & PGR & Sayama & H-TEC (M.Kuboyama/T.Nakatsuhara), 206 laps, Honda