Rea beats Foggy!
Jonathan Rea takes 60th win to be greatest ever
It was supposed to be the perfect end to a record-breaking weekend for Jonathan Rea, but it all went offscript when the 60-time winner and team-mate Tom Sykes clashed on lap three of Race 2.
The two men have remained largely civil as team-mates, but Rea was furious with Sykes after the incident. Rea dived through at Turn 12 only for Sykes to close off the line, the inevitable contact sending the world champion into the gravel trap. “It’s not cool to get taken out,” Rea said with a smile, but only after his onboard camera showed him sarcastically applauding Sykes from the side lines. “We have to move on and rise above it. I touched his rear wheel in the last corner when he
‘Jonathan made a mistake. He misjudged it and is blaming me’
closed the door. Then he rode into me at Turn 12. When others pass Tom he lets them go. When I pass him, he counter attacks. I showed him my front wheel, he knew I was coming. Then he ruined my race. He gave Laverty room, but decided to run into me. I can’t understand what is going on in Tom’s brain. It’s madness.”
Sykes had a different view, with Race Direction declaring it a racing incident. “Jonathan made a mistake. He was too quick into the corner. You can see from the video that my line does not change. He misjudged it and is now blaming me. It’s certainly not my fault.”
Sykes later crashed when he lost the rear at Turn 10, a victim to the plus 50-degree track temperatures. He remounted to finish 16th.