Rea Scores Two Strong Wins
Jonathan Rea lifted both WorldSBK winners’ trophies at Motorland Aragon today to retake the championship lead and continue along his strong seam of form.
After finishing third in the opening WorldSBK race on Saturday Rea exceeded even his own expectations to win not just the 10-lap Superpole race but the full 18-lap race two. Jonathan has now won seven of the 12 races this season on his Ninja ZX-10RR.
Rea continued his impeccable winning form in the 2020 season’s 10-lap Tissot-Superpole races earning him not only more valuable maximum championship points but a repetition of the pole position start he enjoyed in both race one and the sprint.
The second full distance race of the weekend was a front-running display of sheer determination and pace from Rea. With his main championship rival Scott Redding (Ducati) finishing fourth Rea had to fight off the challenge of multiple-Aragon race winner Chaz Davies (Ducati) after running wide and allowing his rival to close up.
Rea continued to keep up his relentless pace to ease away and took a margin of victory of 1.280 seconds. This was his 80th WorldSBK race win since he joined Kawasaki in 2015 and the 95th of his entire career. He crossed the line in demonstrative style after one of the most impressive race wins of his long and hugely successful WorldSBK career.
After the latest compelling and unpredictable WorldSBK round, which marks the halfway point of the ‘new normal’ season, Rea has a 10 point advantage over Redding in the championship standings
The Teruel Round is next up for the WorldSBK riders but it will be held at the same Motorland Aragon circuit, between 4 and 6 September.
Jonathan Rea, stated: “In the Superpole race I made an OK start but then Loris Baz came on the inside, so I got a little bit flustered. I knew I had to keep the rhythm really fast in the beginning because it was a good opportunity. Using the softer SCX tyre for the sprint race has a lot of potential but we did not do so many laps on it in practice, and the conditions were not as hot. So, thanks to my team because Pere and all the guys gave me a really good set-up. In race two I went wide at one point and that gave Chaz the chance to attack in turn one but I wanted to attack him back straight away and set my own rhythm. I knew I could push and put my head down again. I did not expect the pace I had today in race two; I was so surprised. I knew I could be fast and the Superpole race gave me a lot of confidence. When I could really get stuck into the 1’50 laps, and keep that load going at the beginning of the race, it was easier to manage when the tyre would drop. I learned from race one yesterday.”