News

Rea: "My expectation was to be strong… but not like we were!"

Sunday, 30 August 2020 14:30 GMT

    • Jonathan Rea reacts after two victories on Sunday despite making a “bonehead” mistake in Race 2

    Both Sunday victories at MotorLand Aragon headed the way of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as he won both the Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2 for MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship despite predictions that Ducati machines would be on top for the Prosecco DOC Aragon Round.

    Rea secured pole position for Race 1 after the Tissot Superpole session on Saturday and victory in the Superpole Race meant he started Race 2 from first place; having now won every single Superpole Race in 2020. Rea came under pressure in the closing stages of the race from Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) having made a mistake at Turn 17 which meant he ran wide. Ducati was able to make a pass into Turn 1 but Rea fought back to claim victory and take a 10-point Championship lead into the Pirelli Teruel Round.

    Rea reacted after the weekend, saying: “I’m really happy because my expectation today was to be strong but not like we were. The pace surprised me a little bit how comfortable I felt and how the bike was just working. The biggest difference compared to Saturday was we changed the front tyre to the softer one. I felt like yesterday, in the hotter conditions, my choice gave me some stability, but I had edge grip problems. Today I had that so I could be more fluid with the bike.

    “I knew at the halfway stage I could try to control the race, but I made a bonehead mistake in the last corner. I went in there so fast, I only got two gears on the backshift when I should’ve got three to third gear. I entered the corner in fourth gear, putting a lot of stress on the front tyre, with no engine braking. I got third and that gave Chaz the opportunity to come past into Turn 1. I wanted to get straight back past and put everything into the bike and the track, make no mistakes, and we got it done.”

    Claiming two wins on a circuit that was expected to favour Ducati machinery puts Rea in a good place heading into the next Round, also taking place at MotorLand Aragon. Rea is also a man in form right now having taken five of the last six wins – only Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) stopping him from making it six out of six – meaning confidence will be sky high heading into next weekend.

    You can follow more World Superbike action with the WorldSBK VideoPass!