The incident at the World Superbike Championship at Magny-Cours does not change Jonathan Rea’s approach: the record-breaking champion still fancies his title chances
The collision between Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista was the big topic of conversation at the World Superbike Championship in Magny-Cours. After the race, emotions ran high, especially in the Ducati camp (which said on Sunday afternoon). Rea was accused of deliberately causing the crash. The record-breaking champion responded to the accusations in a confident and considered manner.
The season resumes in Barcelona in a fortnight. Until then, tempers can calm down. Will the crash in Barcelona be the defining issue again? “I don’t think so. We don’t have to pretend to be best friends. It’s a rivalry,” Rea commented.
“Of course it’s nice to be respected by your opponents. But I go out there to do the best I can for myself and for my team. I try to respect the other riders. This time, unfortunately, he was the one to feel the consequences of hard racing,” Rea laments to ‘WorldSBK.com’, stressing, “I won’t approach next weekend any differently. “
“This wasn’t a mistake… Unacceptable”
Bemused, bewildered and bold, @19Bautista didn’t mince words after a clash with @jonathanrea in Race 2 left him with no points in the gravel FRAWorldSBK pic. twitter.com/MT1mnkShiL
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) September 11, 2022
In the overall standings, Rea is 47 points behind after seven of twelve weekends (to the World Championship standings). The Kawasaki rider is not writing off winning the championship, even though he has not been able to win a race since the end of May, making it his longest dry spell since switching to Kawasaki.
“There are still so many points to get. We all know very well the story of 2019, how things turned around and the advantage I had at the end of the season,” Rea notes. “Every weekend is an opportunity. We have to try to do the best we can.”
“We can’t control what is out of our control. Instead we have to try to get the maximum out of the bike and out of me,” explains Rea, who travels to his Provec team’s home race next week in third place in the World Championship.
