Superbike – For Rea, a successful first with intermediate tires

Unlike Scott Redding, Jonathan Rea adopted a conservative approach this Sunday, which could have earned him two new victories if a certain Garrett Gerloff had not been there...

We will not talk about a full weekend for Jonathan Rhea – for that, we would have had to win Race 2, and not finish second – but what an impression of mastery left by the six-time Superbike World Champion in Aragón!

The Northern Irishman reached all its objectives, starting with that of a 100th victory in the category, but also that of leave Spain at the top of the championship with the near certainty of being able to play for the title again this year. Not to mention the little bonus: the new track record, obtained during the Superpole!

So of course, Scott Redding prevented the Kawasaki rider from scoring a hat-trick this weekend by taking advantage of his little off-road excursion during Race 2. But the main thing is accomplished for Rea, who unlike his opponent from Ducati favored intermediate tires today – a choice hated by Redding due to a series of disappointments with this type of rubber in the past.

 

 

The tires ? A difficult choice

However, this decision was far from imposing itself on the grid. “ I must admit that I had never experienced conditions like this in all my career,” comments Rea. “ There, the choice of tires changed from minute to minute. It was changing all the time. Three minutes before the start of Race 2 I was still asking Pere [Riba, his chief mechanic, editor's note] if the other drivers still had slicks on the grid! »

Finally, Rea opted for intermediate tires, a choice that worked out quite well for him, especially since it was a first with such a tire for the title holder: “ The Superpole Race was the first where I used the intermediate tires, so I take my hat off to Pirelli “, he continues. “That inspired me to use them in the final race as well. It was the safest option. It wasn't the right one, but the safest one, I'm sure. The majority of the grid used them. In these conditions, second place sounds like a victory. The only way we could have been more competitive would have been to make a better choice of tires. »

Gerloff, reckless but fair play 

There remains this clash with Garrett gerloff, which probably cost him victory this Sunday afternoon. The two men explained on this subject, the American coming sportingly to meet him in the Parc Fermé to apologize for his blunder.

 

 

An approach appreciated by Rea, who considers this incident as a simple racing event, the two drivers having managed to reach the finish (Gerloff finished seventh). “ It was a race full of twists and turns, especially when I rode with Garrett”, continues the Kawasaki rider to the official Superbike website, who despite this blunder was able to recover to get a good second place. “ He came a little too fast and tried to go through the inside, and unfortunately I was caught in the accident. I pulled straight into the gravel and let a few guys pass me. My teammate [alex lowes] and Michael van der Mark was stronger than me at that point in the race, but I came back to my senses, put together my plan, then tried to execute it, which allowed me to bring home some good points. »

The Superbike will now head to Portugal, and more precisely to the Estoril circuit. A route which was not really successful for the Briton last year, the person concerned not having managed to finish on the podium in any race. An exception which proves the rule, and which is unlikely to happen again if he and Kawasaki display the same level of performance next weekend.