Jonathan Rea was unable to hide his frustration after yesterday’s first practice sessions for the Aragon MotoGP were blighted by poor weather.

Rea is taking the place of injured Repsol Honda star Casey Stoner once again in the factory HRC team this weekend after finishing eighth on his MotoGP race debut on the RC213V at Misano a fortnight ago.

The 25-year-old faced a similar scenario on the opening day at Misano, which was also hit by wet weather, costing Rea precious development time as he continues to adapt to the handling characteristics of the 1000cc prototype.

He sat out yesterday morning’s first free practice session with nothing to gain from riding in the half wet, half dry surface at the Spanish circuit.

In the afternoon, Rea clocked the 11th fastest time in the pouring rain, 3.827s behind pacesetter Ben Spies on the factory Yamaha YZR-M1.

The Ulster star, who closed the door on a possible full-time move to MotoGP next season when he confirmed last weekend that he will remain with Honda in the World Superbike Championship, was less than happy with an ultimately unrewarding day at Aragon.

“It’s been pretty frustrating because I feel like we’ve lost another day, it’s the same story as Misano,” said Rea.

“It was the first fully wet session we’ve had and the big difference for me was with the tyres and when they lose traction you can play with the rear grip slightly.

“I was riding a little too cautious today and I feel I need to push the tyres more and be more comfortable with the bike moving around.”

Rea completed over 100 laps at Aragon during a test earlier this month and is praying for dry weather to take full advantage of the knowledge he gained during the shakedown.

“I wasn’t too happy with myself as in the last few laps this afternoon I was on personal best sectors and I made a few mistakes as the front tyre didn’t feel very stable on the carcass,” he said.

“I guess we need to be thankful we were able to test here a few weeks ago and we completed over a hundred laps so for the dry we should be ok, but in the wet my feeling is still not 100%.

“Let’s see what the conditions bring tomorrow.”

Spies topped the times from Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and championship favourite Jorge Lorenzo on the second factory Yamaha.

British ace Cal Crutchlow was seventh fastest ahead of Valentino Rossi in eighth.


.