Rea slashes Bautista’s WorldSBK lead
The reigning world champion is now just 16pts behind the Spaniard after a dramatic round at MisanoThe title fight is on! That’s the upshot after round seven of the 2019 Superbike World Championship was held at Misano in Italy on June 22-23.
After winning two out of the three races at Misano, and finishing fifth in the other, world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) is now just 16pts behind Spaniard Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) in the title race.
Bautista, who went 3-1 in the first two races, crashed out of the finale – allowing Rea to move back into the 2019 championship hunt in one fell swoop.
“We just try to approach every weekend like a new one, with the same work ethic and motivation inside the team,” said Rea.
“To win two races this weekend… is a good weekend! I’m super happy with my team and how we work but we still have to improve a lot.”
Bautista is now on 330pts, ahead of Rea (314), Michael van Der Mark (Yamaha, 188), Alex Lowes (Yamaha, 188) and Leon Haslam (Kawasaki, 153).
Van Der Mark was an early casualty at Misano after a massive highside in practice, which saw him suffer a broken wrist and concussion.
Lowes was a podium finisher at Misano, as well as Tom Sykes (BMW), Haslam (twice) and Turkey’s Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki).
In world supersport, Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher defeated his teammate Federico Caricasulo after titanic final lap battle, with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki) in third.
Round eight will be held at Donington in England from July 5-7.
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