Race 1
A pivotal point in the 2019 championship race, as Jonathan Rea returns to the top of the standings after Alvaro Bautista fell heavily!
A wet Race 1 proved to be dramatic in the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, as Donington Park hosted yet another thrilling encounter. A frantic start saw Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) take the lead early on and never look back as he romped to a 76th career win to take the championship lead, as Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) crashed out in dramatic fashion.
It was a blistering opening lap from Jonathan Rea, who leapt of the line and took the lead at Turn 1, opening up a lead of over a second on the first lap. Pole-sitter Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) held second place, ahead of Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with the Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha of Loris Baz in fourth. Alvaro Bautista was fifth in the early stages but losing time to Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
It was a blistering opening lap from Jonathan Rea, who leapt of the line and took the lead at Turn 1, opening up a lead of over a second on the first lap. Pole-sitter Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) held second place, ahead of Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with the Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha of Loris Baz in fourth. Alvaro Bautista was fifth in the early stages but losing time to Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
Jonathan Rea took a third career victory at Donington Park, his 76th in total. Tom Sykes was back on the podium for a second round running and on a third manufacturer at Donington Park, whilst Leon Haslam was third at his home venue. Once again proving his worth in the wet weather, Loris Baz was fourth, ahead of Alex Lowes, who had a relatively quiet race.
Race 2
In what is a truly sensational comeback, Jonathan Rea leaves Donington Park with a 24-point advantage after being 61 points down just 8 races ago!
It has been a roller-coaster season in WorldSBK and there has been yet another twist in the tale of 2019, as Jonathan Rea takes the championship lead for the first time. A win in Race 1 propelled the four-time WorldSBK champion to the head of the standings, as he capitalised fully on the crash of Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati). Backed up with wins in the Tissot Superpole Race and in Race 2, Jonathan Rea has found himself back in the lead of the championship.
Race 2 started well for Rea, as he launched of pole position and led the field on the run through the opening lap. However, it was not an easy win, as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) raced through on Rea at Turn 11. The two then had a race-long tussle, before Rea took the lead in the second half of the race. Seeing home Razgatlioglu, Rea took an incredible 78th win of his career to reignite the hopes of the entirety of the Northern Ireland and the rest of Great Britain to take the lead of the championship heading to the United States of America.
Speaking after the race, Rea described the feeling of being back at the head of the standings: “It is incredible! A similar story to Misano in Race 2 with Toprak; he was so strong on the brakes. My team gave me a great bike, physically this weekend I felt really good and I was able to extract the best potential from the Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
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By Sam Tickell
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