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SBK, Magny-Cours, Rea: "We're suffering in certain sections of the track"

"There's some chattering at the rear, we'll work to improve there", Sykes:"A problem with the rear brake limited me"

Magny-Cours, Rea: "We're suffering in certain sections of the track"

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They closed today's practices third and fourth, but for the two Kawasaki riders things didn't go totally to plan. Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea have work to do on their respective Ninjas in order to be ready for the Superpole and the races. There's a title at stake and despite Rea's advantage in the standings, everything is still to play for, and a technical failure at this point of the season would be a disaster.

The man with most to lose in this case is the leader, particularly when, up until mid-season, it seemed that the season finale would be a more relaxed one. Jonathan Rea is worried, not so much about his position, but more in terms of the Ninja's performance on the French track:"We're quite close in terms of times, but I'm still building confidence with the bike" stated the champion, citing some vibration at the rear: "I suffered some chattering, but in general the bike is going well in certain sections of the track". 

He went on to explain: "We're losing time half way through the lap, we're OK through the first chicane and through the next section, but there's definitely room for improvement". One eye is on the weather, always an unknown at this time of the year in France: "I'm not sure about tomorrow's forecast, but it would be a shame if it rained, also because we've all tested the track in the dry. But we'll be ready whatever happens."

Things didn't go totally smoothly for Tom Sykes either. Particularly in FP2  he was slowed down on several occasions by a technical issue, also at the rear of the bike. He was even forced to come into the garage mid-way through the session:" I had some problems with the rear brake and in the afternoon I could only make a few laps"

But Tom is not discouraged:"I feel ready for the race because we have good constancy in terms of performance, even though I didn't try to make a flying lap because of the problems we had. And it's a pity because there were things we wanted to try, including a different tyre option. But the positive thing is that we're ready for the race if things stay dry. If tomorrow's wet, we'll evaluate the set-up during FP3."

Translated by Heather Watson
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