Rea had put himself in a strong position to claim a first WSBK win since the Estoril weekend in May in Sunday morning’s race when he sent his Kawasaki up the inside of pole-sitter Alvaro Bautista into Turn 7 on lap 3.
Neither Razgatloglu nor Bautista in third were able to able to challenge Rea for the lead in the next few laps, with the Northern Irishman doing enough to hold on to the lead from the duo.
However, it all went wrong for Rea at the start of the seventh tour when he ran wide at Turn 1 and dropped to third before Razgatlioglu and Bautista, who subsequently engaged in a thrilling scrap for victory.
Rea could never fully recover from the error and had to settle for third position, just under a second away from race winner Razgatlioglu.
Having closely followed Rea’s pace at the front of the field while running in third behind him and Razgatlioglu, Ducati’s Bautista felt the six-time WSBK champion would have likely won the race if he had made it cleanly through Turn 1.
“All weekend it was difficult to beat Toprak because he was very strong here,” Bautista told the official WSBK website.
“But also on Sunday morning with Jonathan he was much better than Toprak and me. If he didn’t make the mistake in Turn 1, I think he could have won the race.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pata Yamaha WorldSBK, Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team WSBK
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Rea is currently enduring his longest winless run since joining Kawasaki at the start of 2015, with Sunday’s final contest marking 21 races since he last stood on the top step of the podium.
The 35-year-old revealed that he somehow ended up engaging a false neutral gear while braking for the downhill Turn 1, which caused him to run wide and lose places to both Razgatlioglu and Bautista.
“In the Superpole race it was incredible – my pace, good feeling on the bike and grip,” he explained.
“I wanted to go to the front because I felt that I could go away but unfortunately when I went down the hill into T1 I didn’t find first gear, I found a false neutral.
“I was really frustrated because I felt like I could have fought for a victory. We are not getting too many chances and I saw that as a chance.”
Rea again enjoyed a brief stint at the front in the final race in Argentina, shooting to the lead with a rapid getaway from third on the grid.
However, he would lose the position at the start of…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Motorsport.com – MOTORBIKES – Stories…