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Perez: "I was sitting in hospital watching the race in Brno and now we are close to winning"

Wednesday, 3 October 2018 08:54 GMT

    • Spanish rider reflects over a difficult end to his 2018 campaign

    All Mika Perez (ParkinGO Kawasaki Team) had to do in France was win the race and he would have been crowned FIM Supersport 300 World Champion. Leading the race in the final three corners, his dreams were snatched away over the line as he finished in second and as a result, second in the standings. But despite the heartbreak, the Spaniard is taking positives from this season away with him.

    Giving it all or nothing throughout the 12 lap race, the 19 year old had the motivation of knowing he knew he had to win in order to be in with a chance for the crown. Leading over the line on the second lap, he was in clear contention for the race win and the title, but it was not meant to be. Caught over the line by Daniel Valle (BCD Yamaha MS Racing), his dreams came crashing down, but he was able to take away some positives from the 2018 season.

    “Today was a really difficult race,” begins a disconsolate Perez. “But the good thing is that I knew I had to win so that gave me a bit more energy. I am happy with second and to be runner up of a world championship, it’s a very good result. But, I was first with three corners to go and it’s a bit disappointing when you lose the championship by one point but racing is like this, we have to continue working this way. The 2018 season has been very difficult for me, in Brno I was in the hospital watching the race and 11th in the championship, now we are very close to winning so I am proud but finally a bit disappointed.”

    With regards to his season, he looked back on it with a positive angle:  “The Kawasaki was a different bike for me, at the beginning of the season we struggled a lot with the setting of the bike. But we improved a bit each round and finally we can see we did well in the last three races; we had three podiums or three second positions. We were very close to the win and I must be very happy, but maybe on Monday I will be very happy! It’s been a good season and the experience I gained is very good for the future.”

    Re-watch some of Perez’s highlights from the season as he bounced back in the second half of the season, all with the WorldSBK VideoPass.