Superbikes | Czech Republic Round, Race1: brake lever problems for Rea

At the Autodrom Most, the first race of the Prosecco DOC Round of the Czech Republic once again saw another great confrontation between the contenders for the world title: Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) won ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), the real revelation of the day.

Only fourth was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who experienced one of his best races due to brake lever problems.
Rea – who started from pole position – was overtaken by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) at the start, then the two started another great head-to-head. After contact at the start of the second lap, Rea took the lead on lap six at turn 15 although Razgatlioglu responded on lap seven. Rea tried to get back to the front but once again the Turk responded at the start of the eighth lap and then ran wide allowing Rea to get back into the lead. Lap 11 was the key one as Rea got back to the front as he overtook Razgatlioglu and then went on to take first position at the start of lap XNUMX.
Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was passed by Razgatlioglu at turn 13 and then ended up in the sights of Rea, who had previously slipped to fourth place. Rea tried to pass Redding at turn 15 but ended up too wide. The English driver defended his third position with great vigor and took his first long-distance podium with BMW.
Rea said: “I had really good sensations but I also had some small problems at the end of the race which affected me in a couple of corners when braking. The brake lever always moved back towards the handlebars and I couldn't put pressure on the lever. All this combined with the fact that I couldn't get the bike into position or stop it much, I lost a lot of time. In any case I have to be very satisfied given that we made a step forward compared to yesterday in terms of consistency in the central part of the race and the pace was also quite good. I think there were some areas with rain and I didn't want to fall."
With today's fourth place, Rea loses 12 points to world ranking leader Alvaro Bautista; now the Northern Irishman is -29 from the top and has lost seven points to Toprak Razgatlioglu, second at the checkered flag. Bautista is in the lead with 271 points, 29 more than Rea and 48 on Razgatlioglu.
Rea said he also had the same brake problems at Donington Park: “It's an aspect we also struggled with at Donington Park and throughout the weekend we tried to prevent the problem. We've tried a couple of different braking systems, different size discs and we have one more option to try tomorrow to be more consistent so I can ride the way I want in the corners where we're struggling. Overall the bike went pretty well all along the track except on the straight where I was losing in third, fourth and fifth gear. In all other respects the ZX-10RR performed wonderfully."