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Dominant Rea claims Superpole Race victory

Sunday, 2 August 2020 09:23 GMT

    • Reigning Champion Jonathan Rea becomes the first repeat winner of the 2020 WorldSBK with Tissot Superpole Race victory

    Track action for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship resumed on Sunday morning with the Tissot Superpole Race; a 10-lap race won by five-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) after making a superb start to jump from third on the grid to the race lead and lead all 10 laps.

    It was a similar start to Saturday’s Race 1 with polesitter Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) moving down to third at the start, losing out to Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team). The trio separated out at the start and Rea continued to lead throughout the 10-lap race, with Rea taking victory ahead of Redding; Rea's 90th victory in WorldSBK. A technical issue for Razgatlioglu as he was battling with Redding meant he did not finish the race; teammate Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) claiming a podium. It means the front row of Race 2 will line up with Rea ahead of Redding and van der Mark.

    Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was once again the top Independent rider as the Frenchman claimed fourth on the grid for Race 2 ahead of Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in fifth and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) bouncing back from issues in Race 1 to claim sixth on the grid for Race 2; although he did drop three places from his starting position.

    Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) finished in seventh place with American rider Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) in eighth; the first time an American rider has been on the front three rows of the WorldSBK since Nicky Hayden since Buriram Race 2 in 2017. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) claimed the final points-paying position in the Tissot Superpole Race.

    The top six from the Tissot Superpole Race, full results here:

    1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
    2. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +0.522
    3. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) +2.701
    4. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +4.804
    5. Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +6.471
    6. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +8.561

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