Portimao WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea: “It seems to be going against Bautista right now, all for him to lose”

Jonathan Rea believes WorldSBK champion Alvaro Bautista is at risk of letting a second consecutive title win slip out of his hands.
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki WorldSBK Aragon 2023
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki WorldSBK Aragon 2023

Bautista has made mistakes in three of the last four Worl♐dSBK rounds, two of which were from the lead of the race.

Prior to his mistake at Imola, Bautista had won all but two races in 2023 which included a run of 11 consecutive wins from Mandalik𒁃a to Donington Paꦓrk. 

But while Bautista has still managed to recover from his mistakes by winning races in each of the last four r🍒ounds, Toprak Razgatlioglu had halved his cℱhampionship lead.

Rea, who won all six of WorldSBK titles in back-to-back fashion, knows the pressure that can be put on a rid🅰er when momentum begins to shift.

Talking about the championship fight, of which he’s not part of heading into the final two rounds, Rea said: "When I was in ꦉAlvaro’s position, you start to think about the gap coming down and how many races a💎re left. 

"With every race that goes by, the gap can be less and less but you see how quick an advantage can swing with a good weekendไ or bad one.&🎐nbsp;

"It seems the momentum was all with Alvaro at the🍸 beginning of the season, now in the last races, they’ve faced difficulties. It seems to be going against him right now with uncharacteristic mistakesဣ and Toprak’s riding in a good way but you have to win races. 

"The points gap between winning and finishing second means a lot at this stage; it’s all for him to lose💃.&n𓆉bsp;

"We have to look at our competition to understand our strengths and weaknesses and exploit them at different circu💧its. 

"This is one that might not penalise our weaknesses as much; we come on in fourth gear, carrying moment💖um and hopefully around the rest of t꧟he track, we can make a difference."

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