Jonathan Rea looked set as the on-track favourite to win the WorldSBK Superpole race at San Juan on Sunday morning. But a false neutral put him out of the lead and effectively out of contention for what would have been his first race win since Estoril in May. “If we go back to the Superpole Race, it was incredible,” said Rea. “My pace, everything, my feeling on the bike, great.
I wanted to go to the front, which I felt like I could go away. Then unfortunately, just going down the hill, I just didn’t find first.
I found neutral. A false neutral. It’s frustrating. “I think with our gearbox it’s a more standard gear box. We have to go from second through neutral to first.
So, there’s that one in a hundred chance. Combination of wheel in the air, how it touched down, my pressure on the gear lever… It’s frustrating because I felt like I had the goods to win, so very frustrated with myself, the bike, because we’re not getting too many chances and I’ve seen that as a chance. “Race two I was really motivated because after having such a good feeling with the Superpole race, but right from the get-go I had zero grip.