Rea rides with his heart

Jonathan Rea demonstrated tremendous mental strength at Phillip Island, not only for recovering from a high-speed crash in Race One but also for after receiving the tragic news that his grandmother had passed away in his homeland of Northern Ireland. Dedicating the Sprint Race win to his family, the fivetime world champion was pipped by teammate Alex Lowes in Race Two. Saturday saw Rea’s worst-ever start to a World Superbike season, scoring nothing in the opening race after a controversial, opening-lap clash with old team-mate Tom Sykes. It led onto a heart-stopping save through the gravel trap, a hefty hit when overtaking Federico Caricasulo and a frightening crash moments later as he pushed too hard to overtake Michael Ruben Rinaldi at the Hay Shed. Eventually, Rea and Sykes spoke to bury the hatchet following their collision. The 33-year-old heads to Round Two fourth overall, trails Lowes by 19 points and has plenty to reflect on. “I was out front and managing my tyre but nobody wanted to come through to set the pace,” Rea said about the hotter Race Two which was, on average, 0.7 seconds slower per lap than Race One. “With four or five laps to go I dropped the hammer but felt a huge drop on the tyre by the end of that lap. When Alex came through at Turn One on the penultimate lap, I was wide and let van der Mark through. Both the pass and the strong winds caught me off guard. It took me a few corners to pass Michael. Then I threw the kitchen sink at closing down Alex! “I had a good run in the last corner but Alex stopped me in the middle. I was looking for a run to the line but it didn’t come. Congratulations to him. He’s had an awesome weekend with his new team.

“After Saturday’s 135mph crash, Sunday was all I could really hope for. I’ve managed to regroup and not lose too many points.”

‘After Saturday it was all I could really hope for’