Jonathan Rea climbs leaderboard and matches qualifying position after making step forward in World Superbike Superpole race at Aragon
Jonathan Rea matched his qualifying position to finish eighth in the Superpole race at Aragon on Sunday after tyre problems hindered his chances in Saturday’s opening race at round 10 of the World Superbike Championship.
The Pata Maxus Yamaha rider was 13th on Saturday after encountering front and rear tyre trouble, but Rea improved in the shorter 10-lap sprint race on Sunday.
Italy’s Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) ended championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu’s 13-race winning streak as he beat his BMW rival by only 0.105s on the dash to the line, with former champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) completing the top three, six tenths further adrift.
Six-time world champion Rea was five seconds down on the leaders as he finished 1.4s behind Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Ducati).
It was a significant step forward for Rea from Saturday, who had issues with both tyres.
“I was having lots of moments on the edge of the tyre and the bike not turning because of front traction, I lost a lot of confidence not being able to turn and felt a bit like a passenger,” said Rea after the first race at Aragon.
“That’s the first 18-lap run we’ve done, so it gives us some good data but for sure we need to change our base set-up to optimise the grip levels here and potentially look into the harder option front tyre as well.”
The second 18-lap race is scheduled to commence at 13:00 BST on Sunday.
Rea announced his decision to retire from full-time racing during the summer break and will hang up his leathers after the final round at Jerez in Spain in October.
The 38-year-old will have six races remaining after Sunday’s final race at Aragon, with Rea next in action at Estoril in Portugal (October 10-12) before the championship finale at Jerez (October 17-19).