Reigning WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea’s number crunching during his win today at Portimao included a new lap record, a 1’42.304, which beat the 1’42.475 that Tom Sykes set way back in 2013, in the days when WorldSBK bikes had much more tuning freedom.
But pole in Portugal was not to be his, giving best to countryman Eugene Laverty as the temperatures began to rise in the Algarve.
It was hot for the first race, almost 30°C, which does not always help race or single lap pace. “Yes, and by a chunk,” said Rea when asked of his new lap record. “I cannot quite believe it, especially in the temperature.
“I expected the race to be a similar race to last year, 1’43s and in the end maybe high 1’43s, but whatever they have done to the track with the bumps and resurfacing, the shape of the asphalt and all the rubber that is down, it is in really good condition and the Pirelli tyre was very consistent.”
Rea was obviously the favourite to win race one, and he knew before he went out that another win would make it 65 all in, like his old number plate, so he hatched a plan to celebrate.
“I was feeling confident before the race, because of my pace and in the last moment, with five minutes to go, I said, ‘hey Fab (Fabien Foret, former WorldSSP World Champion Rea’s rider coach), can you find me a number 65? I have a good idea!”
Rea duly put the ‘65’ plate on his bike out on track on his slowing down lap, shortly after his rider assistant Kevin had waved a large ‘65’ logo joyously as JR crossed the line for win 65 - and his 11th of 2018. As he now virtually owns the Number 1 plate in WorldSBK, they first had to source some 65s. “I think they took a 65 off a clipboard. It was not a fresh one as we have run out of stock on that.”
The Irishman was unsurprised at Eugene Laverty and Aprilia being so fast to take Superpole, with a new record of 1’40.705, saying, “Aprilia is very strong with a new tyre. They get the best out of a new tyre, which is something we have gone away from a little bit in previous races.
“In Superpole it looked incredible and that lap time from Savadori on a race tyre (1’41.457 in SP1), was very impressive. I knew Superpole was going to be fast, but it is nice to see them competitive. They should be there; that bike was at the front quite a few years ago, and it is nice to see it back. It would be nice if they (Aprilia) could step up and really support them because they have two good riders there and a good team.”
And for Rea, the more riders you have to beat, the more satisfaction there is in winning? “Of course,” he agreed. “You have to be in it to win it and every weekend we put ourselves in a good position to race for a win. Sometimes the others are not always in that position but we always manage to be consistently riding at the front, but there are so many riders and machines that are capable of winning races. I welcome that. I really love racing, and next year should be tough.”
