Rea tops damp FP3 at Donington Park

Jonathan Rea set the pace in a damp third and final free practice for the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park as riders opted against pushing in tricky conditions.

With the warm, sunny weather of Friday giving way to cool temperatures, a slick track forced intermediate rubber to be used during the session meaning lap times were well down on the best of FP2.

With riders staying cautious, Rea was three seconds down on Friday’s best but half a second quicker than Tom Sykes, while Leon Haslam completed the top three.

Having proven his wet weather prowess at Misano, Alessandro Delbianco was once more up the order in fourth position, ahead of Leandro Mercado and Ryuichi Kiyonari on the sole remaining Moriwaki Althesa Honda.

Only 16 riders made it out on track with Michael van der Mark opting against risking a crash with his injured wrist, while Eugene Laverty has withdrawn following FP2.