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There is not much to say on the matter, other than the fact that Rea ruined the party that Ducati thought it could continue today, after yesterday's great 1-2, and he did it by showing everyone why he has been the master of this category for the past 5 seasons. The world champion won the Superpole Race, the sixth in a row if you also count the victories at the end of 2019 at Magny-Cours and Losail, and he literally dominated in Race 2 except for a small mistake five laps from the end in the last sector.
"I wasn’t able to put third gear before the last corner - Rea told us at Aragon - I was in fourth and I had no engine braking, so I went long and lost time. This gave Chaz the opportunity to attack me. but I was able to react immediately and continued with my pace. During the race I saw that his gap from me was consistent and I knew that in case of a mistake he would pass me ".
Today's victory in Race 2, combined with his race pace, amazed all the insiders here at Aragon. But did Jonathan Rea ever expect to be able to show such a rhythm?
“Today I didn’t expect all this, I knew I was fast but not up to this point. The Superpole Race gave me a lot of confidence because in Race 1, when Scott passed me, he disturbed my pace and it was difficult for me to respond. Today it was easier to control the drop in the tyres but I must say that yesterday taught me a lot and I realized I had to change something in my style to give the bike more stability under braking ”.
So today you rode in a different style than usual? We noticed a lot of braking work with very accentuated body movements, especially in the Superpole Race…
"The team doesn't want to make too many changes on the bike so they asked me to change my riding style a bit, especially when the tyres start to drop. Fabian Foret, my coach, helped me during the tests, I'm changing my cornering style and the changes are helping me especially in the left-hand corners because in the right-hand ones, with the throttle on that side, it still feels a little bit complicated. I am scratching the sliders on my elbow for the first time, I never touched the ground with it before. With my body I can help the bike turn but I lose some stability, it's a compromise. I don't know how much to quantify the gain but I felt really good today ”.
"I think the Honda is coming ..."
Remaining on the technical side: you talked about a drop in the tyre, what choices did you make today and how do you think the Pirellis were on this track?
"Today I chose the tyre I used last year, just like yesterday's, they are tyres we know and I can say that perhaps the temperature was a bit too high today to make it work at its best. When it's colder we don't need a lot of grip on the tyre but when it's hot it's better to choose the tyres that can give us more confidence from this point of view. "
The surprise of the day was Bautista's podium with the Honda HRC. Remembering the first test in Jerez earlier this year, when you were all "spying" on the new CBR 1000 RR-R, did you expect a podium so quickly?
“Alvaro is very strong on this track; we saw him last year. Honda has been testing here and it looks like they are going in the right direction. Sure, they use the SCX and they have the same rhythm we have with the SC0, but I think they are coming. A lot of work is always done on the bike, mine is one of the oldest and we are still improving ”.
"Scott Redding has a lot of experience, I don't know if I'm the favourite"
Yesterday you were behind in the points while today you are again leader of the championship. Did you expect that?
“We all know that this is a good track for Ducati and today, frankly, I wouldn't have expected to win Race 2. Rinaldi did very well, Chaz finished on the podium in two races and Scott won yesterday's race. I am motivated to do the best I can, I knew I could be in the fight but I thought Chaz and Scott could do it. Today I surprised myself for what I did ”.
The points advantage in the standings is now 10 and Scott does not know the Magny-Cours track. Do you feel the favourite for the win?
“I don't know if I'm the favourite, he also has a lot of experience on the Barcelona track where we will be racing in a few weeks. The championship is still long and we have to think race after race because we have another twelve races ahead of us. I have a lot of determination inside me, then the bike today was incredible to ride and for this I have to thank the team. We suffer on the straight but the Kawasaki is the best in braking and in changes of direction, today we had the best package for the direction that the race took ”.
FOTO: COURTESY OF PROSECCO DOC
