Misano WorldSBK: ‘Write Toprak off at your peril’ - Rea

KRT’s Jonathan Rea showed tremendous early aggression in Misano WorldSBK race one but despite leading for ten laps, once Alvaro Bautista was past him it was a case of second place was all he could gather.

Bautista was on a different choice of new development rear SCX tyre from Rea, and that may have contributed to the Ducati rider setting a new lap record on lap 18 of 21, when Rea was losing grip. So was it more a drop in pace from Rea or late pace from Bautista?

“A little bit of both, to be honest,” Rea admitted from the Italian paddock. “I feel like in the beginning I felt stronger than the other two, to be honest. I got to the front, held my rhythm. I was able to hold the gap similar. I felt like I was better in some areas of the track. Alvaro was better in some areas.

“Just over half race distance he came past in Curvone fifth gear. He just arrived as I was tipping in, so a bit of a shock. I went wide and had to regroup a little bit. Then I just struggled to get onto the back of him. He had a higher rhythm. Using the tyre a little bit better, as well.

“I really extracted everything out of the bike in the beginning. So, I have no complaints, really. I could see he was doing some things better. I will try to use that to improve the bike for tomorrow. My start was okay today. I felt I got off the line quite well. But I rode within myself all the race, just tried to not make mistakes.”

There was a bit of late internal drama for Rea, but it proved a false alarm. “The last few laps I was having some issues with my gear lever,” the Kawasaki rider explained. “My foot kept slipping off the gear lever. I was worried there was some water or something, but there was nothing on the bike. I think the lever is just too short. So,