Jonathan Rea admits he couldn’t have asked for any more from his first ever visit to Thailand after claiming a dominant double victory and a ten point championship lead. The Kawasaki rider led every single lap around the Chang International Circuit and believes his base set-up with the ZX-10R should allow him to be competitive at every circuit he goes to.
“For me it has been a perfect weekend with pole position and two race wins – we could not have asked for any more. The bike can always be better but at the beginning of the weekend the Ninja ZX-10R was at a really good level, my pace was really fast, the rhythm was good so we did not necessarily chase something we really could have got lost with. Our base setting right now is good and it gives me confidence to push the boundaries and understand the bike. I have not had so many double wins in my career but I have been lucky to have some. They do not come round a lot so I want to savour this moment and reflect on what we have done tomorrow and enjoy these next few days.”
By contrast, Tom Sykes endured a tough afternoon despite taking his first podium finish of the season. The Yorkshireman already trails his teammate by 45 points in the championship standings but is choosing to remain calm, saying that he is still working to make the 2015 ZX-10R suit him.
“First podium of the year in the opening race so we are heading in the right direction. One step at a time and a podium finish was not so bad considering the feeling I had with the bike. I am not able to do exactly what I want yet. When it is like that you have no answer for guys who have finished in front of you. We tried everything we could and in the end third position was acceptable for where we are at the moment. I got caught up in turn three of the first lap in race two and got dropped back a bit as a result. We had some small issues after that and corner entry was a little bit difficult to manage. We will keep working and try to improve the bike.”
