On paper, his sixth place end in Estoril World SBK Race 1 was arguably one in all Jonathan Rea’s greatest rides on a Yamaha R1, however he subsequently revealed he had been coping with a brake challenge that sapping his confidence.
Rea had an excellent begin within the race and was chasing Alvaro Bautista for third place, however he fell again halfway by way of as he had already had a brake drawback in FP3 which was thought to have been fastened.
“I felt actually good originally of the race,” Jonathan Rea mentioned in an interview with WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Estoril.
“Alvaro (Bautista) made a number of errors, however I used to be capable of run very clear by way of a lot of the corners, however from the exit of the final nook to Flip 1 I misplaced a little bit bit.
“However in sectors two and three it went effectively and after that I used to be virtually in slipstream.
“However there was a giant second in the midst of the race the place the lever went again to the bar in Flip 1 and that allowed Alex (Lowes) and Andrea (Locatelli) to reach and so they handed me on the straight the subsequent lap.”
“So I ran right into a brake drawback midway by way of the race. I had this drawback this morning. I assumed changing the disc would repair the issue, however the issue confirmed up once more so I actually need to see what is going on on.”
The brake challenge wasn’t the one space Rea was trying to enhance on Sunday, nevertheless it was clearly the one he was most involved about.
“I believe it leans too far again,” Ray mentioned of the general steadiness of the bike.
“While you begin to let go of the brakes, the entrance pops out and sits on the rear, after which the rear rotates loads, so you find yourself utilizing the rear tire fairly a bit.
“So I believe we are able to enhance that space and perceive what is going on on with the brakes.
“To be sincere, it is scary once you attain 320 km/h (198 mph) (first flip) and you do not know if the lever is kind of the place you anticipated it to be.
“That is why I went to the gravel this morning.
“So if we are able to resolve the boldness challenge later within the race, we all know the brakes shall be wonderful and we must be even stronger.”
Brake points and steadiness apart, Ray was glad along with his bike’s efficiency.
“The bike wasn’t too unhealthy,” he mentioned.
“I believe the bike didn’t roll amazingly after the grip dropped, particularly within the final lengthy nook. And mechanical traction continues to be one thing we have to give attention to.”
“The opposite bikes had been good all over the place, so I loved it. It was very nice to have the ability to struggle for the highest 5.”
“Thanks Brega.”
Rea’s sturdy qualifying results of sixth place put him able to compete for the highest 5.
The Pata Yamaha rider improved his time with the assistance of Nicolo Brega. The Ducati rider himself was capable of lap within the 1:34 vary and was the one rider apart from Toprak Razgatlioglu to take action in Superpole, however Rea defined that he was primarily searching for the Italian’s assistance on the straights.
“I am actually grateful to Nicolo (Bulega), however you’ll be able to’t beat the bushes. When you flip the web page, we’re on the prime of the pace entice,” mentioned the six-time World Superbike champion.
“So (…) each little benefit you get within the slipstream may be very helpful. While you’re speaking about tenths of a second or perhaps a hundredth of a second in a superpole, the whole lot counts.
“So I am actually grateful that I did not trouble him and I stayed far sufficient away to not pull him again down the straight and he did a fairly clear lap.
“Ranging from there made my day very fulfilling. After an excellent begin, the Yamaha R1 pulled away from the road and I used to be already in an excellent observe place.
“On the restart, Roca (Andrea Locatelli) truly handed me in Flip 1, however I did an excellent first lap after which with Alvaro I gripped each final nook and acquired there and tried to get sucked in after which I simply did what I needed to do.
“We had a little bit little bit of bother with a number of issues within the second half of the race, however hopefully we are able to kind that out tomorrow.”
