Rea blasts extra tyre option: ‘It’s ridiculous, people have been short-changed'

Jonathan Rea has described the decision from WorldSBK to allow teams another tyre after FP1 as ‘ridiculous’, and that teams who purposely saved a tyre for the remainder of the weekend have now been ‘short-changed’.

Robert Jones

11 Nov 2022

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki WorldSBK Mandalika

Rea, who was off the pace in both practice sessions compared to rivals Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista, was fourth and over a second down on combined times.

The Kawasaki rider won both Mandalika races last season but appears a long way off where he needs to be heading into Saturday, which he confirmed was due to feeling uncomfortable no matter the conditions.

"With the set-up we arrived with considering the grip levels we faced in FP1, it was quite far from our base set-up from a balance point of view," said Rea.

"I just didn’t feel comfortable all day. Even in the afternoon when the grip level came up I just felt uncomfortable on the bike and I wasn’t able to ride it.

"When you’re uncomfortable and nervous and the racing line is so narrow - it’s like walking a tightrope. You need to be comfortable and looking forward. We can see quite clearly what I’m lacking.

"This morning the track was so dirty and even in the afternoon I felt okay on the racing line in most areas, some areas were critical, but off the racing line is a nightmare."

Decision to allow teams an extra tyre leaves the six-time WorldSBK champion angry

While extra tyres being provided was not necessarily the issue for Rea, the decision to give teams an added compound was made after FP1 when tyre strategy for the weekend had already begun.

Jonathan Rea, Indonesian WorldSBK. 11 November

Asked if there’s a tyre he favours for the race, Rea was clear that he knows which option suits his set-up best, although he was left unimpressed by the decision taken especially after FP1 was a much slower session due to the lack of grip available.

Rea said: "I know my race set-up but coming to the teams after FP1 and saying after the weekend has started, here’s another sticker [tyre], like c’mon, it’s ridiculous.

"People have already started their tyre strategy and so the people that have saved a tyre in FP1 have been short-changed.

"It was done after FP1 and FP1 was a waste of time anyway. It was a track cleaning exercise."