Rea ‘frustrated’ by race two crash; ‘It’s a bittersweet day’

Jonathan Rea endures a ‘mixed bag’ at WorldSBK Donington, as victory in the Superpole race was followed up with a race two fall while leading.

Robert Jones

04 Jul 2021

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, Donington Park WorldSBK race 2, 4 July 2021 — Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, Donington Park WorldSBK race 2, 4…
© Gold and Goose

Jonathan Rea has lost the WorldSBK championship lead for the first time this season following a race two crash at Donington Park.

Rea had close to a full race win margin in hand thanks to his Superpole race success, however, after a battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu, Rea crashed 12 laps from the end whilst leading the Yamaha man.

"In race two I felt really good with the bike. The guys made a really good change overnight with a wheel based change, different rear tyre - from the get go I felt good,” added Rea.

"Then I made a small mistake behind Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and I let him get away; I thought ‘argh this is my race’, but was able to catch him at ease, so I thought ‘I’ll keep my powder dry’.

"Then he made a mistake - but when I went to the front - put my head down and just got caught out. I was on the bumps going up the hill (Turn 8), but as soon as I tipped in the front was completely washed out.

"Frustrated because I made a mistake and the guys gave me a great bike. I was a little bit more disappointed yesterday as I had nothing for Toprak, but today I did."

While it wasn’t the end to the weekend Rea had hoped for, the six-time world champion is even more confident going forward as ‘we were able to maximise our package’ on a different type of track.

"Was a mixed bag really. I won the Superpole race which I was quite happy with, but it was strange conditions, was nervous for everybody, but we managed to get it done in iffy conditions," said Rea.

"It’s a bit bittersweet because I feel a lot more positive today and going forward in the season knowing that we can fight in a difficult track where there’s a lot of changes of direction.

"We were able to maximise our package, so I’m looking forward to Assen in a few weeks. We lost the championship lead by a couple of points now, so yeah, all to play for."

Rea’ success in this morning’s Superpole race was his third sprint race victory of the year. The only rider to beat Rea in the shorter format race was Michael Rinaldi at Misano.