Indonesian WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea: ‘No excuses really, sorry’ for incident with Philipp Oettl

Jonathan Rea was unable to fight back in Race 1 of the Indonesian WorldSBK round following a Superpole session that saw him have a lap time deleted and a grid penalty applied due to blocking Philipp Oettl.
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki WorldSBK Mandalika 2023
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki WorldSBK Mandalika 2023

The six-time WorldSBK champion was dropped from fourth to fifth after improving his time under yellow flags, however, fifth then became eighth when he was deemed to have bꦺlocked the GoElౠeven Ducati rider.

T🔴hen in Race 1, Rea was part of an early battle at the front before quickly suffering with a lack of grip and confidence with his front-end.

The Kawasaki rider made several mistakes under braking which resulted in him going wide, while it also cost him positions to 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Xavi Vierge and 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Dominique Aegerter at different stages.

Following his difficult Sunday in Phillip Island, Rea’s early ho♛pes of being a title contender to𒀰ok another hit as Alvaro Bautista took victory for the fourth time in four races this season. 

"Difficult day," said Rea. "With the lap I got cancelled in the Superpole and then the penalty I got for being in the way of 𒁃Philipp Oettl - I’m really sorry about that. I was actually quite on it on that lap but Bassani disturbed me in the corners before and then I had to rol🀅l out of the gas. 

"As I was rolling out of the gas I looked around and he was there. Big apology and no excuses really. Just got involved in that mꦉelee with Rinaldi at turn one, but was there and I got back to Locatelli where I thought I was going to race; with Locatelli and Toprak. 

"Alꦛl the sectors were quite okay except sector two with this section of right handers. I lost all my confidence going through﷽ there. 

"The angle on the gas, the front was just moving and you would commit to turn seve𝓡n with no front stability to turn there. It was ju🐓st a fight for position and not great for us. That was my race."

Jonathan Rea , race 1, Indonesian WorldSBK, 4 March
Jonathan Rea , race 1, Indonesian WorldSBK, 4 March

Although Rea managed to finish ahead of teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alex Lowes, the ꦕlatter showed better pace for much of the race and appeared to not have quite the same front-end issues as Rea.

However, Rea remains upbeat about turning things around🌳 after saying his ZX-10RR works ‘seriously well’ when in the right window r🐼egarding set-up.

"Wh♑en my bike is working well, it’s seriously working well, has grip, everything is in balance and I can make the difference," 𒐪added Rea. 

"But when the front tyre is de♊stroyed you can’t make the difference. You can’t push the bike like yཧou want to. 

"It’s a bal💝ancing act to br♎ing the bike home. We have to take some responsibility for not getting the set-up perfect right now, but I still feel we’re getting everything out of the bike when it’s good."

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