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For a champion like Jonathan Rea, losing a race on the line, by just 0.021 of a second, must have been a hard pill to swallow but Sunday at Philip Island did at least bring some positives.
Aside from problems during the flag to flag, was back fighting for the win, scoring twenty very important points for the championship. “My only chance to win the race was to try and be in the lead out of the last corner. On the penultimate lap and during the race they were passing me on the straight. When I got passed by Marco into T1 I just thought ‘I am going to let the brakes off and go right down the apex and see what happens!’ I wanted to put together the best last lap I could but all weekend we have been struggling with fourth gear. It was too long for that corner and we did not have enough drive on the exit."
The current world champion analyses his race carefully, also speaking about the issues he had during the flag-to-flag.
“I could not get it done today and I made a bit of a mess of my pit exit. I completely forgot to change into second gear to release the pit rev limiter and both van der Mark and Fores came past me, so I lost track position. When we came round there were already a few riders ahead so I gave myself some work to do. I am happy to turn the page and start afresh in Thailand.”
On the other side of the garage, Tom Sykes was left disappointed. #66 started from the third row but soon moved into the lead, before gradually dropping back and missing out on a podium finish. "In one respect it has been very successful weekend and in another I am disappointed because I really felt that that race, potentially, was mine. I had such a good feeling with the bike but unfortunately on lap three we started to have a small technical issue and for some reason the power dropped off in some sectors of the track. Apart from that the general set-up of the bike was spot-on. In one respect we were lucky to get to the end of the race and take the championship points, but honestly I felt a better result was taken away from me.
The Englishman nevertheless remains optimistic ahead of the second round of the season.
“But, I have to be upbeat because it is Phillip Island in windy conditions. I had a good feeling with the Ninja ZX-10RR this weekend and there are lots of positives to take from this round. I am looking at going to Thailand now and making progress through the season.”
