Castrol Honda team seeks Misano bounce back

The Castrol Honda World Superbike Team is preparing for round six of the 2011 series, which takes place at Misano in Italy this weekend (10-12 June), and looking to bounce back from two disappointing races last time out at Miller Motorsports Park in the USA.

With both riders crashing out of race one, a solitary points-scoring finish ‰ÛÒ 11th place for Jonathan Rea in race two ‰ÛÒ was scant reward for the hard work of the whole team, which tested at the Salt Lake City circuit the week before the race.

However, Rea and his team-mate Ruben Xaus are confident that their respective crews can dial in a good setting for their Castrol Honda CBR1000RR Fireblades at the demanding 4.226km Misano circuit on Italy's north east Adriatic coast.

"We've put the disappointment of Miller behind us now and I'm looking forward to getting on the bike again at Misano, where I have some good memories, even though we struggled a little last year," Rea said.

"I know how hard the guys have been working on the data since they got back from America and I'm confident that they are as determined as I am to bounce back at Misano. Even though everyone has tested there, we'll go with a clean sheet and work methodically as we always do to get a good set-up for Sunday. It won't be easy, of course, but we need to get right back at the sharp end of the races and the championship.

Ruben Xaus is hoping to be closer to the front of the pack after a shocker in the USA. Xaus scored his most recent win at Misano last year.

"Italy is like my second home and going back to Misano is always great for me," Xaus said. "It's a fantastic circuit and I have had some good results there. After Miller, I did a customer event for Arlen Ness in China on the way back to Europe and was able to ride at the Zhuhai circuit with some customers, which was a great experience and kept me in a good rhythm. We did make some progress in America, even though the results did not reflect that, and we will start at Misano with a similar setting. We'll try to improve over the weekend and I'll be doing my best with the team to be fighting closer to the front on Sunday.

Team manager Ronald ten Kate was also dissapointed with the teams USA round but looking forward to getting back on track in Italy

"It's fair to say, of course, that Miller was a big disappointment to everyone in the team. Even though the bikes have gone directly from America to Misano, we've been working hard in all departments since we got back to the workshop last week, looking at all the data to find some solutions. We believe that we have a plan to rectify the problems at Miller and hope that it will put us back at the front of the field at the Adriatic course, as we approach the second half of the season," ten Kate said.