Rea faces even bigger ‘disadvantage’ after cancelled Superpole race

Six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea has lost one of three opportunities to claw back points on title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu after extreme weather sees race one postponed.

Instead, the first of the weekend’s two feature races now replaces Sunday’s Superpole race, which means the 12 points available for a potential win are now out of the question.

Rea, who is 30 points down with just 50 available, could win both Sunday races and still not win the title as he would need Razgatlioglu to have considerable misfortune. 

Given the likelihood that Razgatlioglu will finish on the podium should it be dry for both races - something he’s done 28 times in 36 races this year, then that will be Rea’s title defence gone. In fact, Razgatlioglu could finish both races in fifth and still take the title should Rea win both.

That’s why having a cancelled race, albeit one with less points is ‘not good news’ for the Kawasaki rider.

"Not good news because that takes away one opportunity. I believe the schedule for tomorrow is two full races, so that’s two more opportunities but I’m at a disadvantage now," said Rea. 

"When the rain started on my out lap I thought ‘wow this is my chance to take some points’ because I’m really confident in those conditions. 

"But those conditions (heavy rain and thunderstorms) were treacherous and there was a lot of standing water on the track. 

"We don't know if it was all the way around the track because none of us riders have seen it, but the decision has been made and we start again tomorrow. 

"I’m looking forward to the race because step-by-step we’ve come back strong from FP1. I feel competitive and ready to battle."

Since joining Kawasaki in 2015, Rea has never been behind heading into a title decider, but even so, Rea is not changing his approach which is to just put forward his best effort. 

Rea added: "My approach is to just do my best, I can’t do anymore than that so that’s the target. 

"I want to finish the season on a high and we’re very close, just one more day. 

"I just want to finish and be proud of my effort. So let’s see what happens, anything more than that will be a huge bonus."

Rea will be without the aid of team-mate Alex Lowes who suffered a big highside in FP3 and has since been ruled out for the remainder of the weekend.