Rea and Lowes make their own history
At opposite ends of the spectrum: Rea's 60th win and Lowes' first as the world superbike title visited BrnoBritish pair Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes have shared victories in round seven of the 2018 Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) at Brno on June 9-10.
Rea’s win, by a whopping margin in race one, was his 60th in WorldSBK competition, placing him one ahead of fellow Briton Carl Fogarty.
Behind Rea and Fogarty, Aussie Troy Bayliss is next in line with 52 victories, followed by Noriyuki Haga (43), Tom Sykes (34) and another Down Under champion, Troy Corser (33).
Rea (Kawasaki) defeated Marco Melandri (Ducati) and Sykes (Kawasaki) in race one, and in the second it was Yamaha rider Lowes who took the top spot ahead of his teammate Michael van der Mark and Chaz Davies (Ducati).
It was Lowes' first WorldSBK victory.
"The first thing I need to say is a massive thanks to Yamaha," said Lowes.
"All the guys worked so hard to give me what I wanted on the bike. For me to win and Michael to come second for a Yamaha 1-2 is fantastic.
"On a personal level I’m so happy, Donington was hard to take, not to take anything away from Michael but it was tough for me to accept as I wanted to be the one to get the first win for the team as I felt like I’ve put so much into the project.
"The bike worked really well for me today, I really enjoyed the race, which is not easy when it’s so hot and slippery! I focused on being as smooth and consistent as I could be and now I’m over the moon.
"I feel honoured to be part of this project and now we need to keep trying to win more races!”
Rea and Sykes both crashed in race two, while Melandri ran off the track and finished way back in 15th position.
In world supersport, Jules Cluzel (Yamaha) and Sandro Cortese (Yamaha) put on a thrilling battle, with the Frenchman managing to best his German rival to move just 2pts behind in the standings.
Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta) was third ahead of Lucas Mahias (Yamaha) and Randy Krummenacher (Yamaha), with Aussie Anthony West (Kawasaki) finishing in seventh.
WorldSBK is back from June 22-24 at Laguna Seca in America.
How Rea made WorldSBK history
1997: British 60cc motocross champion
2003: Switched to road racing in the British 125GP Championship
2004: Joined British Supersport Championship
2007: British Superbike Championship runner-up
2008: Debuted in Supersport World Championship and wildcard in WorldSBK
2009: Moved to WorldSBK with Honda, first victory in Misano’s race two
2012: Took his 10th WorldSBK victory at Donington Park in race two
2015: Joined Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK, crowned world champion
2015: Secured his 20th WorldSBK Victory in WorldSBK, in Assen race one. His fifth for Kawasaki
2015: 25th WorldSBK victory secured in Portimao race two
2016: Took 30th WorldSBK victory in the opening race of the season at Phillip Island
2016: First back to back world champion since Carl Fogarty
2017: Won his 40th race victory at Phillip Island’s race two
2017: First rider in history to take three WorldSBK titles in a row and secured his 50th race win
2018: Equalled Carl Fogarty’s overall win record at Imola, his 59th overall
2018: Secured most victories ever in WorldSBK at Brno
Jonathan Rea WorldSBK career stats
Starts: 231
Podium: 123
Wins: 60
Titles: 3
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