Rea rues wrong tyre choice at Portimao; ‘SC0 tyre was the way forward’

The Kawasaki rider, who is without a win since round three of the WorldSBK championship at Estoril in May, looked set to challenge for victory before lacking pace in the final few laps. 

Now 71 points down on Bautista in the WorldSBK standings, Rea’s hopes of winning a seventh world title took another hit after the Ducati rider overtook Rea at a circuit he would have fancied pulling points back at.

• Portimao WorldSBK Race (1) Results: Razgatlioglu holds off Bautista for victory

Sure, Rea has two more chances today but given the pace advantage Bautista had in the final few laps, getting the better of the Spaniard appears to be a tall order.

Rea, who used the harder Pirelli tyre for race one, conceded that switching to the SC0 that was used by both Razgatlioglu and Bautista, was ‘maybe the way forward’.  

“I’m a little bit disappointed to be honest because we had a really good pace when the tyre was new but as soon as our tyre dropped a little bit, I really struggled with entering the corners and also in that first part of acceleration,” said Rea. 

“I was with the harder rear tyre option. We set the bike up for the longer race. Maybe going with that SC0 option like the front two guys was the way forward. 

“But I have to be happy with my race. I gave everything I could. We have a good idea of where to improve for tomorrow.”

Alex Lowes enjoys ‘good’ WorldSBK battle with Axel Bassani

Seemingly quicker than team-mate Rea before making a mistake at turn one on lap three, Lowes then lost out to Razgatlioglu, Bassani and Bautista.

During the final few laps, Lowes was engaged in an intense fight with Bassani and despite gaining fourth place on one occasion, the Kawasaki rider ultimately had to settle for fifth by just over a tenth. 

Lowes added: "It was a good battle. I had some good fun in the last few laps with Axel. I tried to pass him but he passed me back. In the last lap he didn’t make any mistake anywhere. 

"He’s riding really well. I just couldn’t find a part of the track where I had an advantage to pass him. 

"And in general, today I’ve been happy with my Superpole performance. In the race, the pace was faster than I expected. 

"I was able to hang in there a bit and I think I can improve a little bit on the braking. I enjoyed the race and I’m looking forward to tomorrow."