Jonathan Rea crashes so infrequently, usually, that it made headline news at Donington but he fell at there at a key time in WorldSBK race two, and then he crashed not once but twice at Most in race one.

The second time, at the penultimate corner giving him a grandstand view of the Razgatlioglu move on Redding, put him out of contention completely.

He said of his falls, “The first one in the chicane, I was just about on line, but it’s very strange. I crashed early on the bumps. It seems like a similar crash to Donington. When we have some front chatter, this engine braking, pushing feeling is taking weight off the front and I’m just losing the front. Frustrating the bike was quite bent, but I could see after I picked it up I was in 11th, so in a points-scoring position. I was just riding around.”

His final crash was a mystery to him. “Honestly, I don’t know what happened in the penultimate corner. I was concentrating on what I was doing but not pushing super-hard and I just crashed. When I was in the gravel, Folger asked me, “Did you hit the oil, because my bike was broken?” But, I don’t know. I was doing everything okay and then I was in the gravel. As soon as I was in the gravel I thought, this barrier is close. I hope I don’t reach the barrier, and I didn’t. But I got pretty bent up. My airbag went off. I felt like I was in a washing machine for a minute or two, but I’m quite good. Just frustrated of course with the outcome.”

Rea did not look to see if there had been any oil that was left after Folger’s bike left a plume of blue smoke into Turn 20. “I didn’t, I forgot,” he confessed. “I was just pissed off because there’s no access road, so we had to watch the whole race from the outside of the track. They didn’t send a car, so we were there for five, ten minutes after the last guy had gone through, waiting for someone.

‘There’s no access to the paddock, with the fence. There wasn’t a gate that was open. So just standing, and I actually forgot to go and check. It’s one of them. Got to take it on the chin,” said Rea pointing tot he graze on his chin cause by spraying gravel, it seems. “Yeah, I think so. My helmet didn’t move. Just got some gravel in there. Like inside a washing machine.”

The only upside for Rea maybe is that he did not lose his championship lead, and other than two strange falls, he had top-three pace all day. But maybe just a top three.

“I felt good in the race,” he confirmed. “I felt like Toprak was under my feet in some areas, but I can’t pass him. I can’t pass the Yamaha in the straight. I can’t pass Toprak on the brakes. So, we have a lot of traction. I can do some different stuff and get close. So, I was thinking, what am I going to do? With Scott it’s a bit different because we have some tracks I’m fighting with the Ducati. They have a lot of power, but there’s some areas you can make a small lunge and make a block pass.

‘I ran a little bit wide in T13 and let Toprak come through. After that, I felt good because I made a mistake. He made two or three tenths, and within one sector I could get straight back there. So, I was doing good but I didn’t really see where I could pass and go forward in the race.”

When it was put to Rea that the Yamaha has improved, the Ducati is the same, but some people are not sure about the latest Kawasaki, Rea said, “It’s a tough question. The 2021 Kawasaki model is for sure a step forward. We confirmed that in the winter test. I feel good with the bike, feel good with the chassis, but we’re not making the same steps as our rivals.

“I used to have the luxury that I could pass on the straight, but I’m taking 110% out of the package every lap, every race. Of course, when you’re doing that, you’re more on the limit. Now competition is very, very high. Some days we can work the magic. Some days it’s tougher. My ‘bad’ today because I could have cruised around for a podium in third, but I want to fight. It’s my character.”