Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) had a rollercoaster weekend at the Autodrom Most, with a crash in Tissot Superpole putting him on the back foot but able to salvage three top tens, including sixth place in Sunday’s Race 2 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The six-time Champion showed strong race pace throughout the Czech Round as he continued to build momentum from his podium at Donington.

Rea's Turn 16 tumble in Superpole meant he only got a couple of flying laps in and the best he could manage was 15^th. In Race 1, he fought his way into tenth place before going two places better in Sunday morning’s Tissot Superpole Race. With a third row start for Race 2 in the bag, Rea got a good launch but lost ground on the exit of Turn 2. This dropped him down to tenth by the end of Lap 1, and he was as low as 13^th at the end of the second lap.

His comeback soon started though, getting ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) on Lap 3 before passing former teammate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) a couple of laps after. On Lap 10, he gained two places to move into the top nine before setting his sights on the Honda of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) ahead; he passed the #97 on Lap 12 to claim P8. It was Vierge’s teammate, Iker Lecuona, next up for the #65 and he got by on Lap 17 for seventh place despite the Spaniard putting up a huge fight, before Rea’s final overtake on Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) with two laps to go.

Reviewing the weekend and specifically his Race 2 comeback, Rea said: “It wasn’t a super high, but the trajectory of our weekend was a positive one. From qualifying P15 to going 10-8-6 is somewhat positive. It really highlighted the importance of Superpole again, track position was everything. I guess you could make a case in all races that my pace was a little bit better than the guys around me, and even the group in front could’ve been achievable this weekend, but trying to get through on traffic was really difficult. I made a good start in Race 2. I gave myself half a chance from that front row. Somebody came over the top of me at T2, I need to watch it back. I came out of there and the rpms were so low. I was in first gear, but I thought I must’ve been in second or even third. I got done by the guys who carried speed. Unfortunately, someone came over the top and killed all my drive. Anything positive I did on the run to Turn 1 was ruined. At one point, the group in front, was a bit faster but once I settled into my rhythm, I was able to dispose of the Hondas pretty quickly and then Rinaldi was the next guy on target. I got my head down lap after lap and caught him. We had a little bit of tyre left at the end. I could see the pace from the front guys was dropping a little bit, but they were just too far ahead. It ended on a positive note.”

With not much time between getting clear of the Hondas and having to chase down, and pass, Rinaldi, Rea explained what his strategy was to gain another place. The 37-year-old also revealed how fights with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in the past helped him to work his way through the field.

Discussing the latter stages of the race and how battling with Razgatlioglu helped, the Northern Irishman said: “I think with seven laps to go, I thought he was just there. Once I got through on the Hondas, I thought ‘don’t give up’. He might come back, he might not. In clean air, the Yamaha can make the lap time; at one point, I feel like I was one of the fastest on tracks. I checked the last few laps. While we have some areas we need to work on, the bike was working good in other areas. I knew if I could put my bike in clean air and ride my lines, I could potentially catch him. When I caught him, it was about where I was going to pass! It had to be, not an aggressive one, but a block pass. You don’t have to go through. I sort of learnt that one on Toprak, racing him in the past. He’d always just level me. Where I always tended to go through on people and put myself wide, I just levelled a few guys today in a few of the corners and that seemed to work. I learnt a bit more about the Yamaha R1 in traffic and how to exploit all its strengths.”

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