Jonathan Rea was surprised to hunt for the title

The series of six consecutive championships in Rea could end on the newly built Mandalika Street Circuit this weekend, when a Kawasaki driver faces a massive 30-point loss to Yamaha rival Toprak Razgatlioglu, who has only 62 points to offer in the last three races.

While there is a consensus that the 2021 Kawasaki ZX-10RR has not matched much of the improved Yamaha R1 this season, Rea has also made a number of atypical mistakes during the year suffering from costly crashes in Donington Park, Most. and Portimao.

This means that for the first time since he joined Kawasaki in 2015, he will go to second place in the league table and not as a runner-up leader.

Rea admits he’s happy to still be on the hunt for the title because of the 2021 season, but tries to keep his mind out of the championship fight to end the campaign in the best possible way.

“Unfortunately, we are in this situation,” Rea told the WSBK’s official website. “But of course the last few years have been amazing to enjoy the last round. This is a little different, but also similar because I don’t feel the same pressure that I normally have to get the job done.

“I think we might have lost the championship somehow this year, so being in a fight is a great position. I have a lot of motivation to try to keep my dream alive for the last race and what better place to come.

– We’ve both thrown away more points like that [30] during one weekend. I can focus on myself, not on the best position, but on the one I like, focus only on myself.

“No matter what happens from a championship standpoint, I’m trying to put it in the background and end the year strongly with the competition results.”

Rea feels more pressure on champion rider Razgatlioglu as he may face the same “negative thoughts” he had in mind when he was champion favorite against Ducat’s Scott Redding in last year’s Estoril final.

Asked who is facing the most pressure in Indonesia, Rea replied, “I feel [Razgatlioglu] because I have been in this position last year.

“I had a much higher score when I went to Estoril. I knew my mentality, what I was thinking, the negative thoughts that would try to undermine self-confidence, and he certainly has it.

“I feel like I mentioned before we lost the championship at some point this year, so the hunt is nice. It would be a bonus to get more than our realistic expectations. So just try to enjoy and forget about championship and pressure and end the year with great results.

Razgatlioglu continues to focus on competition wins

Toprak Razgatlioglu, PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team, sparks from the exhaust

By Gold and Goose / Motorsport pictures

Given his score, Razgatlioglu can afford to finish third in every three races this weekend in Indonesia, even if Rea swept the entire weekend.

However, the Turkish rider says he won’t change his approach in the title finalist and will aim to win every race as they come.

“My plan is just to focus [each] competition, “he said.” I’ll try to fight for the win again because this is more important to me. Okay, I’m very close to the championship, but I’m trying my best [to finish] maybe in second place, maybe in third place or maybe win.

“Try again to win. Because I like it, maybe this is my style. This is important because this is the last race and everyone is trying their best. I’m trying to win, I’m fighting for the win.”

He added: “I hope we are champions this weekend. This is very important to me because I have been waiting to say, ‘This is my father [Arif, who died four years ago in a road accident]’.

“He always believed in me. He said, ‘One day, Toprak will win the world championship,’ but he can’t see it.” [it]. ”