Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea found that a lack of grip was an issue for both World Superbike races at Donington Park yesterday. The Northern Irishman could not emulate his double victory at the last round at Imola and had to settle for two top six place finishes at the English track.

The 27-year-old came to the UK with a slender four-point lead in the championship over fellow Brit, Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, who won both races. Rea remains second in the overall standings, however tied with Kawasaki’s Loris Baz, who was second twice yesterday.

It’s not been the perfect weekend after Imola, but I think we were ready for that. We really struggled on Friday with a few things and the low-grip nature of Donington caused us to suffer quite a lot throughout the weekend. In both races it was a struggle, and it’s difficult for me to understand how the bike was so good in Imola and why we struggled more here,” said Rea.

“But finishing two 23-lap races will give the guys some great data to take away and look at so that when, in the future, we arrive at circuits that aren’t so grippy, we can have an idea of how to maximise a result.

“We finished quite far from the race winners today and it’s not the best situation. But we can leave Donington with some positives and we’re all really looking forward to the next few races."