Rea takes firm grip on WorldSBK title
More world superbike domination by the reigning world champion, although he was made to work harder in race twoJonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) powered to another superb world superbike double – and his fifth win in the last six races – at Misano in San Marino on July 7-8.
His first win on Saturday was a relatively comfortable affair for the defending champion as he defeated Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), but on Sunday Rea had to dig deep to best Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
“That was a super-super hard race,” Rea said after race two.
“Yesterday I controlled the race. I could lead from the front, make my rhythm and go away. Today I could not make that in the beginning and I spent so much tyre and energy coming through the traffic.
“The bikes are so evenly matched now it is so hard to make a pass and make it stick. It was a hard job to track down Mikey (van der Mark) and when I arrived I was starting to panic a little bit with five laps to go.
I wanted to be in the lead by that stage and make a gap. I was worried about getting through because he was not making mistakes, but then he ran into the last corner a little too deep, and I was able to pull alongside and outbrake him in into turn one.
“I made a lot of passes in that race and it was really hard work.”
With the championship now in recess until Portimao on September 14-16, Rea has a 92-point (370 to 278) lead over Davies, followed by van der Mark (248), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team, 218), Melandri (193) and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha, 193).
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