SBK, Rea: "The retirement? I burned the clutch on the first lap."

Johnny Rea's Saturday race at Montmelo ended after not even one lap. In fact, the Cannibal was forced to retire without even being able to battle. For his part, the disappointment is great because he expected a race near the top positions despite a difficult qualifying.

In the post-race Johnny did not speak. The only statements came from Yamaha's press office: "After testing here with the R1 last week and making significant progress in yesterday's free practice, I was confident that I could fight for a good race result today. Qualifying did not go according to plan, but yesterday's longer laps, where we focused on conserving tires for the race, made a good result possible today."

Later here is the reason for the retirement: "Unfortunately, I burned out the clutch at the start and could not complete a single lap. I feel sorry for the team, who worked very hard in preparation for this race, but that ended on the first lap. But now we will put it behind us and focus on tomorrow, where we will need a strong performance in the Superpole Race to secure a good grid position for Race 2."

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