Rea: 'I can’t fight for a win, it’s too far!' Ducati’s advantage 'too much'

Rea was able to battle Alvaro Bautista during the early stages of Race 1 in Assen, however, the current WorldSBK champion eventually cleared off, as he did in the Superpole Race and Race 2.

Assen is Rea’s most successful circuit on the WorldSBK calendar, so if there was ever a time to get his season properly underway, then the Dutch venue seemed to be a very realistic place for that to happen.

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But after seeing Bautista dominate all three races, Rea has admitted he needs a miracle from Kawasaki to make that happen in 2023. 

"We need a major update, it’s clear," said Rea. "I am positive because I am doing my best, but do you want me to be positive - as in fight for a win and make it interesting? No. I can’t; it’s too far. 

"Their advantage is too much. Kawasaki needs to work a lot, but I’m positive that I’m doing a good job, and so is Alex [Lowes]. We’re showing that we’re making progress but it’s not enough, we need a big step. 

"Alvaro’s doing a fantastic job at managing the race; when you don’t have to be 100%, you’re not consuming tyre, energy – he can say what he likes, he’s sitting in the middle of the seat, his body language… he’s riding in harmony, it’s effortless. 

"When you’re over your head, you consume a lot, mostly tyre. So, when you have a dip, he doesn’t. They’re doing fantastically well; we need to step up."

Rea, who finished second in both Race 1 and the Superpole Race, crashed out of Race 2 when trying to keep pace at the front with Bautista.

Taking over the role of challenging the Ducati rider was Toprak Razgatlioglu, but like Rea, the Yamaha rider’s pace faded as Bautista managed to keep lapping at an incredibly fast rate. 

Wishing Rea would attack Bautista more often in order to give them a chance of fighting the world champion, Razgatlioglu said he couldn’t wait any longer and had to get involved, despite being riding at 200%.

Razgatlioglu added: "After the Superpole Race, I asked Jonny “why didn’t you attack?” because if he attacks, then I can join the game. I am also riding on the limit, if he tries to attack then maybe we are fighting for the win. 

"But he didn’t try and in Race 2, I said ‘enough’, because I’m just following these riders; I didn’t wait for the first lap for the tyres, I just attacked and after a few laps, he passed me again. 

"I tried my best in the race and at the beginning, I’m pushing 200%. Everyone is doing their best, but it wasn’t good for Jonny with a crash in Race 2; he’s on the limit like me."