Kawasaki’s Rea wins then drama in WorldSBK

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea scored a win in the ten-lap Tissot Superpole Race on the final day of action at the Donington WorldSBK weekend before a fall in Race Two prevented him from securing more championship points. Alex Lowes fell in the Superpole race but restarted to finish 14th, then went on to take sixth place in Race Two.

Jonathan Rea : “A bitter sweet day really. The Superpole race in mixed conditions was really stressful on the grid, because we saw some guys used a wet tyre but the clear choice was the intermediate – or even the slick, to be honest if I had to do the race again. I built a nice lead and was able to maintain that 2.5 second gap to the end. In Race Two we changed the bike quite a lot from yesterday because I was struggling quite a lot with grip, and the bike was not turning as well. We fixed that in morning warm-up for Race Two. When Toprak came through and I ran wide into the chicane I gained the time I had lost to him quite quickly. I just kept my powder dry then he made a mistake at Coppice and I passed him. I just put my head down because I had the rhythm, the bike set-up and the feeling. But, going into Coppice I got caught out wide on the bumps a little bit, the front unloaded and when I tipped it in I lost the front. I am frustrated with myself but I am feeling a lot more positive than I did yesterday because I felt I did not have the tools to fight then. Today I felt it was my race but I made a silly mistake. We just have to maximise every opportunity now.”

Alex Lowes : “That was a tough day when I expected to be really strong. In the mixed conditions I was strong, to be honest, and I felt really good on the bike for the Superpole race. We had some experience from Aragon on the Intermediate tyres. I thought on the grid I was going to have a chance. The crash was completely my mistake but into the Old Hairpin on the outside of the track there were a lot of wet patches. I was so conscious of not overshooting and hitting the wet patch that I turned it too tight and caught the white line on the inside. I just touched it and it was enough to crash. It is a shame because with my pace I should have had a good race. After Saturday’s podium it would have been good. In the final race I do not really know what happened. After starting tenth I managed to gain some places in the first corner but I was just slower than expected. I have been fast in every dry session but in the race I was struggling and spinning. I do not really know why. If I look at today it has been disappointing but if I look at the weekend, my first time here on the Kawasaki, I gained some points on third in the championship. That is the positive side.”

Kawasaki Racing Team

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