Jerez WSBK: ‘Tomorrow maybe not championship day’ - Rea

Reigning World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea took a step closer to retaining his title in race one at Jerez but was again hampered by a lack of rear grip from his works Kawasaki and had to settle for third.

The Isle of Man resident now has a 44-point lead over Tom Sykes with 75 left on the table but feels like tomorrow is probably not a championship-winning day as he needs to finish seven points ahead of his team-mate.

“A win wasn’t achievable today as Chaz was in a different race. At the beginning I felt quite calm but as soon as the tyre dropped I struggled so much,” Rea told BSN at the track.

“It’s really frustrating as it has happened for the last couple of races as when the tyre drops, even if I change my style, the engine management is defining the laptime and I lost so much traction.

“We don’t understand exactly what it is that is creating the problem as it never used to happen, so we need to see. I am a little but happy as it is my first ever podium at Jerez.

“I need to be clever tomorrow. If we look at the season, there is a reason why we are at the front with a points advantage, so we won’t panic and put on some sort of target to win because we need to make sure we win.

“The race today, I was getting a little frustrated as we tried the new front Pirelli on their advice but maybe it doesn’t suit my style when I put a lot of pressure on the front at the end. I think that was the least of my worries though.

“I’m not looking at tomorrow as a championship day because I have to outscore Tom by seven points, which is going to be difficult with the way he is riding. If we take it to Qatar, we take it to Qatar, it’s easy to let your ego ruin a year’s work.”