Jonathan Rea “in survival mode” during Dutch WorldSBK

Jonathan Rea was “in survival mode” in the final part of the final race at the Dutch WorldSBK, he says.

Rea was riding in place of injured Honda HRC rider Jake Dixon for the second World Superbike round in a row at Assen, the former Moto2 race winner sidelined through injuries picked up in Australia during winter testing.

The Northern Irishman said he was better prepared for the Dutch Round than he was in Portugal three weeks ago, but he failed to score a point all weekend in the end.

Rea also ended up as the only Honda rider on track after Somkiat Chantra was ruled unfit following a crash in FP3.

Although his final result was nothing special, Rea was pleased with Race 2 afterwards at least for the opening part of the race when he was able to be in a battle and make passes.

However, as the race wore on so did his front tyre, and he found himself unable to maintain a strong pace in the final part of the race.

“I actually enjoyed Race 2, or at least the first half of it, because even though I got a bad start, I was able to make some passes and find a good rhythm,” Jonathan Rea said after Race 2.

“It was the fastest I’ve been all weekend, lapping in the mid-1m34s. The pace was good and I felt comfortable. 

“But around lap 11 or 12, I started to struggle with the front tyre. I had a few moments and then found it difficult to turn because I wasn’t loading the tyre in the same way. 

“To be honest, I was kind of in survival mode at the end, which was frustrating because physically I felt good.”

Despite the late-race struggles, Rea was pleased with the work he’d done over the weekend, feeling he and Honda had made progress despite scoring no points.

“The guys made some good setup changes right from Free Practice 1 and we worked well to explore some options with the bike,” he said.

“If we had to come back tomorrow, of course we already have more ideas to try in order to be faster at the end of the race. 

“I know the result doesn’t really reflect it, but we made some progress this weekend. Now the weekend is done, I want to wish Somkiat [Chantra] all the best in his recovery, and Jake [Dixon] as well. Hopefully they can be back on board at Balaton.”