Source: Supplied.

As the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) visits the El Villicum circuit in Argentina for the very first time this weekend, newly-crowned four-time world champion Jonathan Rea says he will start with a ‘blank sheet’ when he takes to the track on Friday.

Rea, who claimed his fourth-successive title at the French round while matching Troy Bayliss’ winning streak record, is excited for for the WorldSBK to visit an all-new venue in a country not previously featured in the prestigious series.

Eager to learn the circuit’s characteristics, the Irishman is confident the base setting of his Kawasaki Racing Team-prepared ZX-10RR will provide a platform for success at the penultimate stop.

“I am really excited – firstly to go to a new track and to visit South America for the first time,” Rea explained. “It is great for the championship and also really nice to visit a new country with WorldSBK. Of course, since Magny Cours I have not had much time to digest winning the championship but I am extremely happy and proud of our efforts to date this season.

“But the season is not over and we are going to attack this race weekend like any other. We will try to put celebrations on ice until the end of the season. We won’t have too much set-up data this weekend so we will start FP1 with a blank sheet of paper. Fortunately our Ninja ZX-10RR has a great base setting so it is up to me to learn the track fast, and hopefully enjoy it.”

Vice champion honours are still up for grabs in the final two rounds of WorldSBK, with the fight set to go down between Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK).