Rea returns home to spur on invigorated WorldSBK title bid

Jonathan Rea is taking the renewed momentum for his developing World Superbike Championship title bid to Donington Park this weekend as he looks to take another chunk out of Alvaro Bautista’s series lead.

Costly DNFs in two of the last four races, coupled to two race wins Rea during that time, has seen the Ulsterman make sizeable in-roads into Bautista’s previously sizeable advantage with the margin between the pair whittled down to 16 points heading to this weekend’s UK round.

Interestingly, Donington Park has not been the scene of significant race-winning riches for Rea during his dominant Kawasaki years, at least compared with other venue, with just a single win from eight Kawasaki ZX-10R starts.

However, with energy on his side after out-scoring Bautista for three events running now, Rea is looking forward to getting back to familiar territory in his quest to keep the pressure on.

“Donington is the closest thing I get to a ‘home race’ and I’m excited to go there and get stuck in. It’s a great circuit with a little bit of everything, and the first sector is one of my favourites of the season.

“It’s always a compromise with set up as we try to maximise both stability in the hard-braking areas while making the bike agile in the faster and more flowing sections.

“With the race taking place in the UK summer I expect the weather to be great. Of course, the target is to keep working with my team and maximising our potential with the Ninja ZX-10RR.”