The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a mixed affair for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) during the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round. He was able to fight for a podium in Race 1 but Sunday proved to be more challenging after a Tissot Superpole Race crash dropped him down the grid for Race 2 where he was able to fight back to fifth place from tenth.

Rea took a front row start for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race after posting a best lap time of 1’40.761s, some half-a-second down on polesitter Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). While Bautista was able to take victory, Rea battled Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) for second place. The pair were separated by just a tenth of a second at the end of the 17-lap shortened race.

On Sunday, the pair were battling again on Sunday in the Tissot Superpole Race with Rea leading Razgatlioglu heading onto the final lap. Razgatlioglu used the slipstream to pass Rea on the brakes heading into Turn 1 but Rea, on the outside of his rival, touched the white line which was slippery due to spots of rain falling in the closing stages of the race, with Rea coming off his bike and retiring from the race. This meant he started Race 2 from tenth place and he was able to battle back to fifth, finishing behind teammate Alex Lowes who had a strong Race 2 after a difficult weekend up to then.

Discussing his Sunday and explaining the crash, Rea said: “It was unfortunate because that set the tone for Race 2. I felt like I did everything right in that race. I was biding my time. It was tough conditions for everybody with some spots of rain. Toprak planned his strategy perfectly. He used the slipstream down the home straight on the last lap and just as he was alongside, the wind effect and also the trajectory he was coming, I was giving him more space and touched the white line for nothing. Frustrated but it happens sometimes. Then, starting from P10, I had to be quick in action and gain track position. In doing so, I just used a lot of tyres in the beginning trying to plan my passes; especially on Locatelli. It was quite hard; he was very good in the last sector and onto the home straight. For me, everywhere else, I was just trying to get close enough and then, of course, he dropped his rhythm and I was able to go through. At that stage, Toprak and Alex were just there, and I thought ‘don’t waste anymore and I will arrive at the end’ but the offset of the tyres, they were in the same boat as me but further up the road. They had a really good race. My target was Alex and Toprak and, in the end, I had nothing left for those guys.”

It had been a difficult start to the 2023 campaign in Australia and Indonesia with only one dry-race podium to their name, coming from Lowes in the Superpole Race; Rea was on the rostrum in a wet Race 1 at Phillip Island. However, since returning to Europe, Rea has become a consistent podium challenger with two podiums in three races at Assen and one in Barcelona. Despite only taking one podium in Barcelona, Rea was in the hunt for one in the Superpole Race and he potentially could’ve fought for one in Race 2 had he started from the front row rather than tenth place following his crash.

Talking about the progress made from the start of the season until now, and what more needs to be done, Rea said: “I think we just need to do great work every weekend, put all the stars in line from a team point of view to battle for the podium. We’re so far off battling for a race win. We know what needs to be done, the team knows what needs to be done but it’s not something we can react to right now. This is our situation. I push the team on a daily basis at the track, at tests but it’s somethings very frustrating especially when you’re riding with some other bikes on track. It really highlights our difficulties. We’ll never give up. The team are working so hard on what we can control and, of course, with me being competitive, I’ve had quite a few second places this year, but what’s more encouraging was Alex’s great result. It shows that when things are going well, at a track that consumes a lot of tyre, KRT can still be strong.”

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