After the Tissot Superpole Race at Jerez, Jonathan Rea trailed Alvaro Bautista by 61 points in the championship and now, he is just 32 behind!
Exactly 10 years and one day since his first WorldSBK win, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took his 74th of an illustrious career, to close in on the championship lead. Rea made a fruitful start to the weekend, having been comfortably ahead of rival Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in most conditions. With the rain, Bautista’s damage limitation ride meant that Rea could zero in on the Spaniard’s championship lead, which collapses to 32 points.
Despite achieving pole position, Rea started second after the opening laps of Race 1 saw the red flag waved due to track conditions. On the restart, Rea leapt into the lead from second on the grid, squeezing ahead of Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team). However, with 12 laps to go, Lowes took the lead and began to edge clear from Rea, until disaster struck the Lincolnshire rider with 10 to go at Turn 12, as he crashed out. This left Rea to gingerly make his way round for his 149th podium and his 74th victory in WorldSBK – as well as exceeding 4000 points, becoming only the second rider to achieve this.
Speaking after the race, the reigning WorldSBK champion stated his elation of a Misano win: “It is a super-nice feeling. It has been a difficult weekend though, because all year, I have only ridden this bike in the wet in the morning Warm Up session in Imola. I made a gamble this morning in FP3 to keep my fast rhythm for the Tissot Superpole, but when I saw the rain clouds coming in, I was getting so nervous! I made a good start and tried to keep a good rhythm, nothing too crazy; when Alex came past, I just wasn’t prepared to be that fast because he was gaining time everywhere. However, 10 years after my first win, this one is very special!”
With a 28th consecutive point-scoring ride, Jonathan Rea will seek to extend his form to tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race. Points for him in that will make it 185 consecutive races that Kawasaki have scored points in. Rea’s winning career of ten years and one day is now the third longest in WorldSBK history, with only Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser enjoying longer stints at the top.
Continuing, Rea said: “I feel quite good in the dry, Pirelli have brought quite a lot of tyre options. I understand which one is going to be our race tyre and I am comfortable with that. The grip level here in Misano in the dry is a little bit slippier than before, which is the complete opposite to what we have in the wet, which is odd! We will try and do the best job we can!”
Can Jonathan Rea continue to close the gap down to Bautista?
From 61 to 16: Jonathan Rea’s determination and resilience has seen him close right in on Alvaro Bautista in the WorldSBK title fight!
Jonathan Rea’s quest for a fifth WorldSBK title is back on after the Ulsterman battled to a 75th career victory in Misano, having to overcome a resolute Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) on the final lap for his fourth win of the season. Rea made hay whilst the sun shone at Misano, as Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) crashed on Lap 2 of Race 2.
However, it was not plain-sailing for Rea, as from that moment onwards, he was locked in combat with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing), who hit the front to lead the majority of the race. Even with four laps to go when Rea hit the front, Razgatlioglu refused to back down and even tried passing Rea at Turn 8 on the final lap. In the end however, it was a 75th career win for Rea, who is now within striking distance of Alvaro Bautista in the championship race.
Speaking after the race, Jonathan Rea didn’t hide his relief of this massively important victory: “We just try to approach every weekend like a new one, with the same work ethic and motivation inside the team. To win two races this weekend, albeit with a silly mistake by me in the Tissot Superpole Race, we have salvaged a good weekend! I’m super happy with my team and how we work but we still have to improve a lot.”
Rea’s 75th win also makes it a 131st WorldSBK win for Kawasaki and their 11th at Misano from the last 13 races held at the Italian venue.
Continuing, Rea described his emotion of being back in the title fight: “Every race is important and it’s all about trying to minimise our mistakes really. We did a great job this weekend; we are getting limitations each weekend, but we are overcoming them. I really feel that at Donington Park, Laguna Seca and Portimao, we can use the ZX-10RR to its full potential. So, let’s see, we need to keep working but I’m going to enjoy some sun with my family for a week in Italy. I will come back recharged for Donington Park!”
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