Aragon WorldSBK: ‘I needed a clear track to be fast’ - Rea

After one of his best-ever WorldSBK wins, overcoming a plainly faster Ducati/Bautista combination on the main straight that leads to the final corner in race one at Motorland, Jonathan Rea and his 2022-tweaked Kawasaki were kings of the hill, in a region of Spain with plenty of them dotted around the landscape.

A very different story on day two, however, when it looked like we had been transported back to 2019 - with Alvaro Bautista dominant on a Ducati and Rea finishing second because he had not real choice in the matter.

Rea even said that he was best of the rest, but he felt he could have done more in the final two Motorland races if he could have got free from the other podium hopefuls.

Rea denied Bautista simply had too much pace for him, even though Bautista’s second-race speed was really something else.

“No, again, like yesterday, like this morning, I just got involved,” said Rea, ruing his many fights in the leading four that let Bautista escape. “I felt like my pace was similar to Alvaro’s, but in clear track.

“Rinaldi and Toprak were so excited to take track position. I just really struggled to do my rhythm. I needed clear track to be fast. It was a long time to get that. The race was very aggressive again. I made quite a few mistakes. It was windy out there. The wind changed direction, so while yesterday we had a big tailwind in the straight, today it was more of a headwind pushing in T1, as well. But, happy with the results.

If I had this on Monday, I would have signed, knowing the length of the straight here, the pace of Alvaro through the testing, and Toprak. Rinaldi… I think it was his first race win here with Go Eleven. So, it’s a strong track for him. To be best of the rest today, I have to be really