REA TAKES HIS 250th WorldSBK PODIUM

Jonathan Rea finished third in today’s WorldSBK race one at Donington Park to record his 250th career podium in the Superbike World Championship.

It was a successful day all round for Rea as he also secured pole position for the race in this morning’s Tissot-Superpole qualifying. The cool dry conditions in the morning allowed Jonathan to set a new best lap-time for Donington of 1m 26.041, beating his own previous record time in the WorldSBK class at this track.

With the sun finally appearing after a weather-affected first day and FP3 session on Saturday morning, the early pace in Race One was strong and the action combative. Rea and his now traditional rivals Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu battled hard for the lead in the first few laps, with Rea heading the field from laps two to five. 

As the race progressed first Razgatlioglu and then eventual race winner Bautista would lead, with Rea finishing in third place, fending off a late charge from Danilo Petrucci. 

Tomorrow’s action will feature two races; the ten-lap Tissot-Superpole ‘sprint’ race and then a full distance 23-lap WorldSBK Race Two.

Jonathan Rea said: “To get my 250th podium makes me proud but it also makes me feel really old! It is nice and I feel it is beyond my wildest dreams to have achieved what I have done already.  I just enjoy it and hopefully there are many more to come. We won Superpole and just that little lift of being on pole is great for the guys in the garage. Donington is a good track for us so we should be strong here. In the beginning of the race, especially when Toprak was in front, I felt really comfortable to be there, enough to want to go past him and have clear air in front of me. In the middle of the race, when Alvaro was in front, the pace was faster. He was in the mid/high 1’26s and I was in the low 1’27s. In that situation I was trying harder, braking on the limit, and maybe overcooking it by a small margin. There is so much grip from the new track surface that the rear traction was good, which was pushing me into the corners. There is not that sensation where you can drift the bike into the corner by using more front brake. So we just need some more margin from the bike for tomorrow. Without looking at the data yet, we have an idea. My race was quite inconsistent, but even when Danilo was putting me under some pressure, which I could see on my pitboard. I was still able to be quite fast, lapping in the 1’27 low laps times, if a little sporadically. So the pace is there. I consumed the rear tyre but didn’t completely kill it, so there is reason for optimism with the rear of the bike. We just need to create that margin at the front so that if I do get in ‘hot’ I can still stop it.”