Another day has passed, and the situation for Jonathan Rea hasn't changed. In Race 2 (and in the Superpole Race), the Northern Irishman had to give way to Bautista once again without a fight, trying to get the best out of it all in terms of points and remain at the top of the championship.

"We lacked some stability on the front," he explained. "Especially in the second part of the race. My race time has improved. A sign that I've progressed. We must focus on maximizing the performance of our engine, especially when accelerating."

Impossible not to mention Ducati's overwhelming power, which is putting King Jonathan's empire to the test.

"Now Bautista and Ducati are the reference point. I feel strong. mentally. I accept the situation, and I continue to do my best, hoping to find tracks where I'll be more comfortable. Everyone talks about Ducati's speed, but it must be said that Bautista is doing a great job, for example, maintaining a constant pace throughout the race. In fact, having being behind the others is a new experience for me, at least in recent seasons, but it's easy to accept."

The possibility, which has become more concrete, is that what was seen in Australia and Thailand will also occur in upcoming races, which Rea obviously does not wish for.

"I hope it won’t always be so obvious. It was rare for me to win with gaps of more than six seconds in the four seasons when I won the championship while, in these first races, Ducati demolished its opponents. The gap is certainly too big, but this is the situation, and we must give it our all. I hope the situation changes, but it also depends on what we can do on different tracks like Imola or Portimao."

The only possible change in the plot could come from a limitation of Ducati's engine revs, along the lines of what happened to Jonathan last season. To this regard, the number one rider didn't give anything away, but still made his point.

"I don't know what will happen if Dorna limits Ducati's engine revs. Last year, we lost about 1,100 engine revs, and I was still fast. We need to evaluate this in relation to each bike. It's easy to say but hard to do.”

In any case, they need to think about the future that, at the moment, is only full of clouds on the horizon.

"Every weekend, I start with the utmost motivation, trying to do the best job possible, but now we have to try to reduce the gap. It's important to understand that there are many other races and not only six, so we must stick together, getting the best out of each race."