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SBK, Rea: I fought with the tyres and took what I could

The Northern Irish rider: "After a few laps, my tyres deteriorated. I need to understand the reason". Sykes is third: "The first laps were my biggest problem"

SBK: Rea: I fought with the tyres and took what I could

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It's not common to see both Kawasaki riders on the defense, but both Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes didn't have that winning drive toay, having to "settle" for second and third.

It looked like Rea might be adopting his classic race strategy, with a conservative central phase and then an unstoppable finish, but this isn't how it went at Misano. “It was a tough race for me – explains Jonny – early on, my tyres really deteriorated, especially at the front where I felt a lot of vibration. I stated to think about what happened at Donington, so after building a gap to Tom, I tried not to stress the tyres through the fastest sections. I was also thinking about what happened to Van Der Mark yesterday”.

Second place conceals the many doubts that Rea had during the race, as he continues to summarise his day: “We didn't change a great deal after yesterday, but despite that I struggled a lot more than I did in race, so we need to look at the data and understand what didn't work. I'm not worried about the tyre issue anyway, as I believe the Pirellis to be very safe; we need to know what happened to me at Donington though, and to Van Der Mark here, as these things shouldn't happen”.

Despite it all though, the glass is definitely still half full as the weekend concludes.

“Considering the situation, I'm very happy with second place. I planned to try and get Torres in the final stages and I was closing in on him tenth by tenth, then unluckily for him he had a problem, leaving me the second place I was pushing for. The championship? We're still in a  great position, and right now I am only fighting against one rival after what happened to Chaz, to whom I wish the speediest of recoveries”.

Tom Sykes wasn't able to accomplish what he did yesterday, but he still ended the day on the podium, assisted by Torres' problem at the end: “I expected more from the start. After a good start, I couldn't make the most of my pace or get the best out of the bike and tyres. The initial laps were my biggest problem, while I was fast in the later stages, but not enough to close the gap that had been created. The temperatures definitely had an effect, but that wasn't the main problem. When Johnny passed me, I couldn't stick with him, as his pace was stronger. I need to work on the start of the race and the central part."

#66 has made up points to his team-mate though, reducing the gap to 50 points with 6 rounds still to run.

“There are still many points to make up, but anything could happen. The only thing I can do is continue to work, to improve and perfect my situation, which is already a very positive one”.

Translated by Heather Watson
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