Jonathan Rea waited for things to calm down, he reflected on what happened on the track at Magny Cours and has decided today to publish a long post in which he clarifies his point of view on the race contact that took place in Race 2 which knocked out Alvaro Bautista and was punished by the race marshals with a long lap penalty at Rea’s address.
For the Kawasaki rider it was purely a race accident, without any willingness on his part to knock out his rival in the title race. Jonathan also remarked that a race contact also took place in the SP Race between Bautista himself and Razgatliogluwith the Spaniard who also lost one of the wings of his Panigale and then launched it on the track, right in Rea’s trajectory.
“On the collision with Alvaro, there are two sides to any story and now that I’ve had time to process all the information let me express my feelings clearly. Number one – and most importantly – I hadn’t planned and didn’t want to hit him and even when we touched, the last thing I expected or wanted was for him to fall and not be able to continue the race.
This is something I want to say firmly before I talk about what happened in my opinion. Speaking of the accident, I was at the limit to make the maneuver, I went for the overtaking, its trajectory was approaching me on the inside and at a certain point I had to change the trajectory so as not to close the front by itself. I made my curve and unfortunately he crashed. I’m really sorry because it wasn’t my intention to happen.
After the race I went to see Alvaro and I apologized. As drivers, we race to the limit and sometimes we touch each other. This weekend Alvaro also got in touch with a rider in the SP Race, right in front of me, losing a wing of his bike and throwing it towards me in the race. Also, other drivers have touched me this weekend; they are races and it happens.
Unfortunately, Alvaro fell this time, and I got the long lap penalty as per the race direction decision, which I fully accepted. I wish Alvaro the best for the remaining races of the season and as far as I’m concerned it is an unfortunate accident that is already behind me. Now I’m looking forward to racing in Catalonia.
See you on the track, Jonathan Rea. ”
