SBK, Pirelli French Round, Race2: sensational retirement for Rea

After the triumph in the first race, with Jonathan Rea celebrating his third consecutive world title with an authoritative victory and Tom Sykes stoically achieving third place in the sprint with Marco Melandri, despite the pain in his injured left hand, Kawasaki Racing Team ran into a bad day.

Race 2 began with the onset of rain which upset all the teams' plans, which had been set on dry conditions during the Warm Up: the first stages were very excited and it was Jonathan Rea who paid the price, having fortunately been involved in the fall of Eugene Laverty.
The new three-time World Champion was hit on the right boot by the Irish rider's RSV4 and had to return to the Kawasaki pits to realize what had happened, definitively abandoning the race.
Fortunately for him only an abrasion on his right foot, promptly treated at the medical center, but nothing broken so there will be no problems seeing him back on the track in Jerez de la Frontera in three weeks.

“Without the accident that put me out of the race, we could have fought for the victory. My pace throughout the weekend was always a little higher than the others. The conditions were uncertain throughout the race, so it is difficult to say how it would have gone” – he declared Jonathan Rhea – “But I was sure I could race with Chaz. Wet or dry we achieved a very good level this weekend. The good news is that I had my right foot checked and nothing is broken. I hit something very hard on the other bike, as it took some skin off my foot and was enough to completely take off my footpeg. I was lucky, it could have been much worse. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Today the team won the Team Championship: just after I had changed I saw the caption on the screen in my office saying that they had won, so I rushed into the garage to give my Team Manager Guim a big hug!”

A Constructors' Championship for which Tom Sykes also deserves great credit, for the dedication and constant commitment he has always put into the Kawasaki project and on the track, obviously with the aim of staying ahead of his teammate.
For him today a seventh place after yesterday's splendid podium, which still allows him to maintain second place in the championship: the English rider, stoic in racing despite the pain in his left hand injured in Portimao.
Sykes was held back by tire problems as well as understandable hand fatigue, he who has a driving style in which he uses the brakes a lot.

“We chose a harder rear tire today which didn't work in colder conditions today, but the temperature seemed cold enough for the softer compound” – he said Tom Sykes – “After a couple of laps I struggled to keep the bike in corners, especially on exits. I tried to compensate in other areas but the rain I could have done with a softer rear tyre. I'm still in second place in the championship, nine points clear and if someone had proposed it to me two weeks ago, I would have accepted. The team has two good riders, it's a great team that gives us a great bike. It's a great team effort. Yesterday the Drivers' Championship arrived with Jonathan, today the Teams' Championship and if everything goes as it should we will soon get the Constructors' Championship too."

So meet up in three weeks with the Pirelli Spanish Round in Jerez de la Frontera.