World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea out to build momentum at 'tough' Estoril circuit

Rea and Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes finished first and second in the opening two races of the season

Jonathan Rea is hoping to build further momentum at this weekend's second World Superbike round held over an Estoril circuit he found "tough" last year.

In 2020, Rea sealed his sixth title by finishing fourth in Race One at the Portuguese venue, was fifth in the sprint race, then crashed in Race Two, but recovered to take 14th place.

"It was a new circuit so I was constantly adapting," said Rea.

He leads the 2021 series by 12 points after two wins at Aragon last week

"Estoril is a tough circuit for us but we hope to build momentum," added the Northern Irishman.

"I have great memories of winning the championship there but I didn't put a great weekend together. It was one of the worst of the year."

• Rea survives crash to finish second in final race

With Alex Lowes coming home runner-up to his Kawasaki team-mate in the two opening races of the season in Spain last weekend, the Japanese manufacturer enjoyed two consecutive 1-2s for the first time in their history.

Rea survived a coming together with American Grant Gerloff in the final race of the weekend, won by Scott Redding, to take second.

The six-time champion trailed Lowes by 19 points after round one of last season's championship at Phillip Island but this time it is Rea who leads the Englishman by 12 points as they head to Portugal for round two.

"It was incredible last week to think that I had achieved 100 victories, everything else kind of paled into insignificance after that," explained Rea.

"I really enjoyed that feeling and to come away from Aragon leading the championship is so much better than last season.

"Last year I crashed at the opening round and it had a knock-on effect. This time hopefully we can build some momentum into the year.

"I'm feeling really content with the new ZX-10RR and feel I can go out and do a good job."

'Letting the points look after themselves'

The 34-year-old will face strong competition at Estoril from the likes of Lowes, plus Ducati's Redding and Yamaha-mounted Toprak Razgatlioglu, who lie third and fourth in the standings respectively after round one.

Turkish rider Razgatlioglu won two races at the concluding round of the 2020 season in Portugal in October.

"At this stage of the season it's not about managing anything, it's about trying to do the best I can at each and every race and letting the points look after themselves," argued Rea.

"If I can do that we should be there or thereabouts come the middle of the season and we can start to have a gameplan for the end.

"Previously when I've created a points lead I've kept on extending that lead but I don't take that for granted at all."