(Motorsport-Total.com) – WSBK rookie Dominique Aegerter has once again recommended himself for promotion to the Yamaha factory team at the first race of the Superbike World Championship in Misano (read the race report). In Saturday’s race, the Swiss duelled for several laps with record champion Jonathan Rea, only narrowly losing out and finishing in sixth place. Aegerter left his brand colleagues Andrea Locatelli (P12) and Remy Gardner (P9) clearly behind.

“Maybe I was still lacking a little bit of confidence, because I was at the limit with the front in some corners,” commented Aegerter after the race and spoke about the duel with Rea: “He was a bit faster in some places. That’s why there was a kind of yo-yo effect.”

“In fifth gear, I lacked a bit of acceleration to pull alongside him. I should have perhaps overtaken him a bit earlier, because I was already there after ten laps. But I didn’t know how my tires would react,” reports the WSBK rookie.

Previously, Jonathan Rea had to fight less hard for victories

Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea had to pull out all the stops to prevail against Aegerter. “I have never had to work as hard for a win as I did for this fifth place. On the last lap, the positions changed a few times,” commented the six-time champion.

“From the middle of the race onwards, my pit board always showed ‘+0.1’. I wanted to drive my race,” reports Rea, who drove the second half of the race in defensive mode: “It’s not nice to constantly be defending. That’s why it wasn’t a nice race for me. But I had to do what had to be done.”

© Motorsport Images

The Kawasaki changed character again when the grip decreased. “At the beginning the pace felt OK. But when the tires started to wear down I had to ride the bike completely differently and that didn’t work. When we have grip it’s a different bike,” Rea said angrily, adding: “I feel like I’m getting the most out of the bike.”

Dominique Aegerter: Top 6 result makes the rookie proud

While Rea was sobered after the race, Aegerter was happy about the top-six finish. “A sixth place in this race is something I can be a bit proud of. I started well, but it was a long and also hot race. I didn’t really know what to expect in these conditions in terms of tire wear, because yesterday I crashed in my long run,” explains Aegerter.

© Yamaha

“I was right behind Rea most of the time and I learned a lot because he defended his position brilliantly,” noted Aegerter. “I also saw how he saved his tires. Despite that, I tried to overtake him a few times because I was faster than him in some sections.”

“I think I overtook him about four times. But I never managed to take the corner cleanly, so he could counterattack immediately,” the Swiss regrets. “Nevertheless, it was a nice battle with him, even if I don’t like the fact that he finished ahead of me.”

“In tomorrow’s sprint race I will try to get into the top 6. Then I would start one row further up in the afternoon. Hopefully the weather stays nice, because a lot of fans have come from Switzerland, and of course there are a lot of Italians here too. For that reason alone it would be great if we could achieve a better result than today,” says Aegerter, looking ahead to the final day in Misano.