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Buriram WorldSBK: Rea fights brake fade to pinch points lead

Three-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea summoned up all his championship winning powers to take the race one win and Superpole victory at Buriram, and also a championship lead that was as much to do with rivals’ bad luck as it did with two truly epic rides from the number one man himself.

Rea’s huge success in recent times has been a major reason why the rules in 2018 now state that Kawasakis must lose 1100rpm compared to last year, and the champion was feeling the squeeze – or lack of it -  in more than just peak power in race two in Buriram.

Fading brakes for the first 13 laps meant he was up against it, and only came back fighting after the brake system became more predictable.

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“From the end of lap one to lap 13 I had a huge brake fade,” Rea told bikesportnews.com. “I adjusted the lever to the maximum but still the brake lever was coming back to the bar. My normal technique is to use one finger and I had to use all four fingers.

"At one point I almost considered coming in the pits because, especially with Melandri, there were three or four places where I was not even thinking about a pass but I had to go on the inside. I am frustrated about this because we made some changes to the bike that were generally in a good direction I and felt I could fight for the victory.

"With no brakes my confidence was gone in that part of the race. With seven laps to go I was strong again because my brake was coming back. But even when I was strong and the lap times were good I was still quite nervous.

"You have long time to think about turn three (a slow hairpin approached form a kilometre long straight) and I was thinking, “OK, when I release the gas and go on the brake, is it going to be where I expect it to be? Or is it going to come back?” So it was a very difficult race, mentally.”

As well as the outright technical problems, Rea is also in possession of a much less potent engine in 2018, which had its own challenges.

“You can see the guys passing us on the straight they do not need a slipstream,” said Rea. “The only guy I passed on Saturday on the straight was my team-mate. I guess yesterday Tom had the same brake problem as me, so it must have been a similar problem. The temperature (of the brakes) was 220 degrees, and it is never that. Never, ever.”

Rea knows he has now taken the series lead, and even after his bad luck in race two he was second best points scorer in Thailand, only behind Davies. “On the weekend Chaz put three points into us, with a 3-1, and I went 1-4. It is not a disaster.” Rea leads Melandri by two points.

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