Second Podium For Rea At Home

Jonathan Rea was on the podium again at Donington Park today in round six of the 2023 Superbike World Championship with third place in the Tissot-Superpole race. He finished fifth in the longer WorldSBK race two later in the afternoon.

Jonathan started from pole position in the 10 lap Superpole race and led until the penultimate lap when he was first passed by eventual race winner Toprak Razgatlioglu and then - in the last few corners of the last lap - by championship leader Alvaro Bautista.

Rea’s podium finishes could not quite be replicated in the second race, as he lost pace compared to his nearest competitors with a lack of rear traction. He ended up fifth, having been in second place for the early part of the race.

The first attempt at running Race Two - in reality the third and final race of the weekend - had been red flagged after a three rider crash exiting Coppice Corner. The restart was conducted over 22 laps, not the planned 23.

In the championship standings, Rea remains fourth, now on 163 points.

Two more WorldSBK events are scheduled for July. The classic Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola round takes place between 14-16 July and the Autodrom Most will host the Czech Round for the third year in succession, between 28-30 July.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “I got a podium in the Superpole Race and then fifth in Race Two, but I would have been a bit happier if the results had been reversed. It is always nice to finish the day with a solid result. But if we start with the positives from this morning, I felt amazing for the ten lap race. It was just maximum attack from me, and I knew I needed to get to the front early. I passed Alvaro into T1, on the inside, and then just went as fast as I could go! On the penultimate lap there was probably a little bit left out there, with a few mistakes, and that got Toprak close enough to have a lunge in the Melbourne Loop. I got into the previous chicane a bit fast. When I was starting to think about taking my time into the chicane on the last lap, to set Toprak up for the last corner, or to get close, Alvaro popped in and parked it on the apex. I think we probably deserved a bit more than third given where we had come from but I am happy and disappointed at the same time. In the final race I struggled from the beginning with rear tyre traction and I could see quite early I was struggling on the edge of the tyre. From mid race distance, when Alvaro passed me, I struggled so badly. The rear was just sitting and spinning, spinning, spinning. It was really hard because it became so physical and the bike was moving a lot.”