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Superpole and the win, what more could he want? Johnny Rea closes Saturday at Buri Ram on a high. Having scored pole position, he then dominated Race 1. Only at the start did he risk losing the top spot but then the Northern Irish rider got into a rhythm and waved goodbye to the chasing group, crossing the line with a significant lead.
It couldn't have gone any better.
“I'm obviously pleased with the result, as it wasn't easy, with the heat. I tried to make a strong start, making the most of the pole. In the first laps Melandri was behind me, once the gap was more than one second I was able to move further away”.
At the start Melandri seemed to be the only rider capable of bothering you?
“I didn't want him using my slipstream, it would have been nice to hold a 1’33 pace, but I'm really pleased with this win. We only suffered with a little lack of grip, we'll try to do better tomorrow”.
You start from row three again tomorrow.
“Here it will be very different from Australia. There the gaps were contained, at Chang there's the chance to break away and Melandri's starting on pole. It will be an uphill climb”.
Rea's ZX-10R is not the only one on the Buri Ram podium. Tom Sykes is also there. The Brit played catch up during the race and in the final stages he was able to close the gap and pass Melandri on the very last lap.
You lost ground at the start.
“Unfortunately at the start I was struggling with the brakes and tyres. I couldn't brake as I wanted, I was struggling with corner entry. it's a shame because my race was decided as a result of that and I couldn't stick with the front guys, as they had stronger pace”.
On the last lap you got the better of Melandri.
“I was able to get into the rhythm I needed, improving my split times. In the final stages I could see that Melandri was having some problems and I tried to make the most of the situation".
