Rea ‘picks his moment' as he reaps rewards with first WorldSBK treble

Jonathan Rea says he is delighted to have maximised his chances at Donington Park by scoring his first WorldSBK treble on a weekend that saw title rival Alvaro Bautista struggle in comparison.

The Kawasaki Racing rider was the man to beat in all three races, each held in different conditions, with a dominant success in Saturday’s wet outing followed up by victory in a truncated ‘balls to the wall’ Superpole Race and in the full-length dry second race.

A maximum haul of 62 points – the first time he has achieved such a feat since the series’ move to a three-race format – coupled to Bautista’s indifferent results sees him overturn an original 16-point deficit ahead of the weekend into a 24-point advantage with five rounds remaining.

“In the sprint race with Tom, who is one of the best at this circuit I was able to analyse where he was strong and make my move and to do race two was really special, best of the weekend, another nice fight with Toprak who was really strong in some parts of the track whereas I was able to be stronger in others.

“Positive and now looking forward to the next few races because there are some good tracks coming for us. I didn’t expect this kind of result this weekend, it is a circuit that hasn’t been my best friend for many years, especially in the last couple of years I have suffered with arm pump but today nothing, I was able to be strong right to the end of the race."

A remarkable turnaround for a rider who despite notching up more consistent finishes when he wasn’t winning races, he still ranks only 7 race victories to Bautista’s 14.

However, Rea says he is satisfied to have been picking the moments, not least this weekend as the Kawasaki proved to be the package to have at Donington Park.

“We have to pick our moments and the expectation wasn’t there to win but I felt great with the bike straight away, we were the strongest today. They don’t have the advantage of being in sixth gear and hanging on to sixth gear to pull tenths on the straight, you really have to be at one with the bike.”

Round 9 of the season takes places next weekend with the US round at Laguna Seca.