Jonathan Rea “got the maximum” from Honda WorldSBK with Donington top 10

Finishing 10th for Jonathan Rea in WorldSBK is an underachievement based on his full-time career, but now as Honda test rider the result in the Superpole Race at the UK WorldSBK was as good as it gets.

Rea’s 10th place was the best finish of his wildcard weekend but scored him no points since it came in the 10-lap race on Sunday morning. He did score two points in Race 2, though, finishing 14th.

Having also qualified in 10th in Superpole, Rea felt that his performance at Donington was as good as it gets at the moment for Honda, whose best WorldSBK result before the UK Round this year was 11th with Tetsuta Nagashima at Phillip Island.

“I think we’ve got the maximum from the package today,” said Jonathan Rea after Race 2 at Donington.

“I mean, Somkiat Chantra and Jake Dixon aren’t slow riders, they’re super-talented guys. Okay, I used some more experience at Donington and with the Superbike this weekend to do a decent job, but when you look down the classification it’s super-hard to be in the top-six-or-seven. 

“After that, you need to maximise the package and be perfect. 

“So, without a lot of race mileage under my belt this year, jumping in as a test rider, it’s about where I expected to be, and it’s about where I expected the bike to be. 

“[We’re] under no illusions, we’re far away. 

“The gap to the front is too big, but it’s too big for a lot of manufacturers. We’re just a bit further away, so we need to close that down.”

Despite the gap to the front, Rea felt it had been a good weekend at Donington.

“I think so,” Rea said after Race 2 when asked if the Donington weekend had been positive.

“There’s no substitute for testing under race conditions with your rivals. I mean, I got a really good look at Ducati, Yamaha, BMW today, so it’s always good information. 

“The target was to stay upright, enjoy the weekend with the test team and score some points. 

“I knew yesterday, P10, it was probably probably unrealistic to fight there, but we did, we had a 10th in the Superpole Race after some brake issues [in Race 1]. Then, P14 in Race 2.

“Clear we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we know that; it's been a long time since the bike’s won a race. But that’s my job, try and help. 

“I think overall it’s been a positive weekend. 

“Are we satisfied? No. We want to be more competitive, but that’s where we are right now.”