Rea: ‘I had nothing, a real passenger’: SCX ‘tyre’ destroyed for Razgatlioglu
After securing P2 during Saturday’s opening WorldSBK race of the weekend, Rea once again had no answer for Toprak Razgatlioglu and series leader Alvaro Bautista.
The Superpole Race appeared to be Rea’s best chance of ending his now 18-race streak without a win, after the six-time world champion took an early lead.
However, the Kawasaki rider made a big mistake heading into turn one which cost him the chance to fight Bautista and eventual winner Razgatlioglu late on.
In Race Two Rea struggled for pace after claiming he felt like a ‘passenger’: "I’m just disappointed because my bike this morning was incredible, in the Superpole Race. I had good traction and everything was working.
"From the get-go in Race 2 this afternoon, I had nothing. As soon as I turned into Turn 2, I felt ‘why is the bike not hooking up?’.
"I was fighting, a real passenger for most of the race, so we need to analyse exactly what happened because it was strange. It was a battle with my teammate, Alex. Also in the beginning with Vierge and Rinaldi.
"It was just about grinding those guys down and letting the tyres move around a little bit. Alex’s pace was fast! He just kept going and going and going.
"There was a point I thought ‘maybe my best is fourth’. I kept going, never gave up, and finally I could arrive on the podium."
After winning the Superpole Race in spectacular fashion, Razgatlioglu also had to watch Bautista take off into the distance during the longer Race Two.
With the championship looking like a foregone conclusion, race wins seem to be the best Razgatlioglu can manage during the final two rounds, although the Yamaha rider is not giving up.
"In the second race, I tried my best and kept fighting for the win," added the Turkish star. "I was waiting for Alvaro’s tyre to drop but it didn’t happen, so I kept fighting for second position.
"I want to thank my team, in the last minutes we changed the plan and decided to use the SCX tyre. The SCX tyre was destroyed but I was feeling much better during the race.
"We keep fighting for the Championship. We’ll try our best again in Mandalika."
