Jonathan Rea was a high-profile paddock visitor at Silverstone, and there the double WorldSBK champion was in high demand. He spoke to WorldSBK.com at the event, and said that being trackside – and sharing the track during testing last winter – was useful as well as a day at the races.
Jonathan Rea: “I could spend some time and watch what riders are doing, and I've actually learned some things as a rider just by watching how some of these guys work. At the November test in Jerez last year the WorldSBK riders were able to share the track with a lot of Grand Prix riders, so I was able to ride with them and compare where a MotoGP bike makes its lap time, and where a Superbike makes its time. That was really interesting for me at the time but standing trackside and watching it was the lean angle that these guys carry.”
In the era of elbows being firmly down, that lean angle is the focus of what Rea says is a key difference between the two. Having experience of both after replacing injured Casey Stoner at Repsol Honda in 2012, he’s qualified to judge – and says it’s not just the differing machines that create a different way to extract the most from them:
JR65: “The elbow down style doesn't really work on a Superbike as much because unless you have the leverage - like a Baz or Redding - we can't carry that angle. I was watching through Vale and Club during qualifying and Marquez's lean angle through the long corner was incredible. We don't have that grip with our tyre because it makes its performance with grip on acceleration; we focus on stopping the bike to the apex and then picking up and accelerating. They don't stop or accelerate particularly fast, but they can carry so much more momentum than us. You work with what works best for your tyres.”