Rea top points scorer in Germany.
05 Sep: Having posted his fourth win of the year, at the Nürburgring last Sunday, Jonathan Rea was understandably happy with his recent turn of fortune - even if he did not get things all his own way, and had to settle for second in race two, behind Noriyuki Haga.
Edited copy courtesy of World SBK
Rea scored 45 points on Sunday, making him the most successful rider of the day, a pleasing statistic for a rider who had a tough mid-season run.
"I guess we got the overall, so I am pretty happy," confirmed Rea,
who explained his raceday in the following terms. "In race one I just knew I needed to get ahead and keep ahead, but in race two I just couldn't get to the front, and I was not in clear track. Where I was very fast in the last two splits, the other guys were holding me a little bit in the last corner and the last chicane. But in the first sector they were much faster than me. It was pretty much a race of two halves of the circuit. I would gain on them and then they would pull away. When Checa crashed it kind of upset my rhythm for a lap and it enabled Nori to get another three quarters of a second. It was frustrating to see him have a tenth here and a tenth there and make the gap into three seconds at the end."
But the Nürburgring memories for Rea are going to be good ones, and his comments about his recent test at Assen also bode well for his 2011 plans. "Race one was great, nice to win again but the main thing is I am really enjoying riding, and I think when that happens it is working well. I like getting on my bike and riding. We are getting it close now. We had a good test at Assen last week, trying to test some new things that will be beneficial for next year, so we'll see."
Jonathan Rea. Photo courtesy of SBK
Yamaha Sterilgarda rider Cal Crutchlow's stay in World Superbike will come to an end after this season as he moves to join the Tech 3 MotoGP team. Crutchlow rejoined the Yamaha family in 2009, successfully taking the World Supersport Championship on the R6 before joining the World Superbike team in 2010. The 24yr old British rider has fought competitively over the season for podiums and race wins, taking a double victory at Silverstone for his home race.
Cal Crutchlow. Photo courtesy of SBK