JON REA-SES HIS GAME
JONATHAN REA’S bid to win a third successive World Superbike crown is back on course.
Rea won the second race of the British round at Donington Park yesterday to extend his lead in the series to 55 points.
The Northern Irishman finished ahead of Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes, who won the first race on Saturday.
Rea, who crashed out in the opening race, ended the nine-race unbeaten run of Sykes at the Leicestershire circuit as he took his eighth win of the campaign.
Ducati’s Chaz Davies also claimed a podium finish and is in third ® place in the overall standings. But it was Rea who stole the show, rewarding the work of his engineers – who rebuilt his wrecked bike – to carve through from a fourth-row start.
“I knew I had to make a good start, then get my head down and get a lead, at one point three or four seconds, and then I needed to relax a little,” he said.
“I was able to control the last quarter of the race and I managed it perfectly.
“It was so important to bounce back and that incredible first lap was so important to overcome the frustration of Saturday when I finished with no points through no fault of my own. Winning was so important as those 25 points get my championship back on track.”
Rea’s win was Kawasaki’s 100th World Superbikes triumph.
But Sykes had to be content with second place, running 1.601secs down. His unbeaten run at the circuit stretched back to his title-winning 2013 campaign.
He added: “I have to be disappointed to lose my record.
“But this was a straight fight and I was beaten fairly and squarely. This day had to arrive.”