By Richard Petrie

Jonathan Rea will start his World Superbike campaign in Philip Island

Jonathan Rea will start his first season in the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island in Australia on 1 March - and he will not be there to make up the numbers.

The Ballyclare rider, who recently celebrated his 22nd birthday, is confident that he can mix it with the established stars of the series as he competes on his HannSpree Ten Kate Honda.

"I've done all my preparation work, I'm as fit as I've ever been and I'm feeling really good so I can't wait to get started," Rea told the BBC Sport website.

"It's a year to be really motivated so that's why I started my training and testing so early, to give me the best possible chance of running at the front.

"For the first time ever I'm starting a season without coming back from injury or recovering from an operation and my aim is to stay healthy, injury-free and win as many races as I can.

"I don't want to make rash predictions about winning the championship - I'll let that take care of itself - but I know if I ride the bikes to their full potential we can be up there."

The former British Superbike rider began his training regime in November and has been testing his new machine at Kyalami, South Africa, Portimao in Portugal and Phillip Island ahead of the season opener.

"I treated myself to three weeks of eating junk food and having a few drinks with my friends but since then it has been down to business.

Hopefully we can get to the front quite early and try to win that championship Jonathan Rea

"We started pre-season testing in December so I had to be in some sort of shape for that. With just a week or so to go to the first race, I'm now in cruise control.

"Testing went really well at Kyalami but we had a few problems at Portimao with bits of electronics and getting the bike to work well for me.

"That has been overcome and everything is now in place for me to do what I need to do."

The Irish Motorcyclist of the Year winner was second in last year's World Supersport series and says it has been difficult to transfer back to riding a Superbike.

"It's easy to get onto a bike and go fast but when you're racing in a world championship there are no slow riders out there so you have to look for every little thing that's going to help you and that's just taking a little bit of time for me at the moment.

"I'm also working with a new crew so it's taking some time for us to get to know how we both work but whenever we sort things out we should be alright.

"The team is Dutch and we share the same sense of humour so it's a really good team to be part of.

"But away from the fun side of things, they take their racing very seriously and are in the paddock for only one reason - and that is to win races.

Jonathan Rea won the Irish Racer Award for the second time

"The team has won eight Supersport championships so we're really plugging hard to see what we can do on a Superbike."

Rea faces stiff competition as he competes to claim the coveted crown but is confident he can beat the top stars and the influx of new riders who are flooding into the series.

"There'll be plenty of British riders about the paddock this year but it is not just those guys I have to beat.

"If that was the case I'd be ok as I've already beaten them in Britain but there are loads of other good guys out there, from America, Italy and around the world, so it's super-exciting for me.

"It's nice that some new manufacturers like BMW and Aprilia have also come on board and it's definitely a good series to be part of.

"Hopefully we can get to the front quite early and try to win that championship.

"The first race is at Phillip Island and I can't wait to get there.

"There's a nice holiday atmosphere and it's a really nice event to be part of so I can't wait."

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