SBK|Pirelli Spanish Round, Race1: Jonathan Rea catches up to Carl Fogarty

At Jerez de la Frontera Jonathan Rea breaks yet another record: with the victory in Race1, the first of the 2017 World Champion on this track, he joins a legend like Carl Fogarty with 109 podiums in the top series derivative championship.

Record that he could break as early as tomorrow in the second race, also considering that, once the world championship is over, he can finally drive without pressure and without necessarily making calculations.
Today Rea was also helped by a bit of luck: Marco Melandri was in fact stopped by his Ducati while he was leading, with four laps to go, thus denying himself the possibility of fighting for the victory with Rea, who in the meantime was closing the gap. gap with Italian.

Rea said he was sorry for the retirement of his colleague, who in his opinion would have deserved to fight until the checkered flag but he is obviously very happy to have managed to win on a track that was still missing from his incredible list of successes.

“I wanted the victory, even before Marco's retirement, I was trying to ride beyond my limits to catch him and try to overtake him. The gap was closing and I was getting excited every lap. In the end he had a problem and I feel very sorry for him because he didn't deserve it. We both deserved to play it to the end. At the beginning I was trying to manage the race, because with yesterday's fall where I hurt my shoulder a bit, I didn't have the opportunity to do a long run and I wasn't sure about the tire choices" – he explained to us Jonathan Rhea just off the podium – “It was fun to ride today, the bike was moving a lot and you had to pay a lot of attention but it was fun. What made the difference today, and in the past, is that we have an incredible team overall. It's not just the bike, the rider or the mechanics, it's the whole thing. I didn't see anything wrong with Melandri's bike, but I don't look at the others. I don't think Kawasaki or Ducati have much to improve, they are already at the top, these are marginal nuances. I think the difference now is in the head: I feel very strong, I have great confidence with the bike."

Then a word on the moment he is experiencing, after the extraordinary achievement of the third consecutive title: "It was nice to come here, take a break from everything that was happening. I was very busy after Magny-Cours, I went home but I had a lot to do. It was nice to get back on the bike, in front of my fans. I had an amazing welcome at home, but it was tiring not so much for me but for my family. I went to Las Vegas with my mechanics and my kids and see the Monster Motocross and it was awesome. Luckily I slept on the plane so I got here without too much jet lag."