WSBK: Rea Becomes First Catalunya Winner with Lights-to-Flag Victory

Jonathan Rea became the first-ever WorldSBK race winner at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The Kawasaki rider led from the lights and clinched a commanding victory at the inaugural Catalunya Round. Scott Redding and Chaz Davies joined him on the rostrum and secured a double podium finish for the factory Ducati squad.

Rea extended his championship lead to 41 points over Redding. Toprak Razgatlioglu sits third on equal points with Davies, a further 70 points behind.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) had a great getwaway from pole and comfortably took the holeshot, but drama unfolded behind him. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) initially held on to second from the grid, but Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) rocketed through the field and lunged down his teammate’s inside at Turn 1. The Yamahas ran wide, allowing Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) through. While van der Mark lined up in fourth, Razgatlioglu fell behind Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) into sixth.

Rea had great rhythm from the get-go and, unwilling to let his opponent escape, Redding forced his way up into second through La Caixa on the opening lap. The Brit did not stay in the position for long though as his front tyre blocked at Turn 3 on the following lap, shaking him and leaving the door open for Rinaldi. The Aragon winner looked confident and gestured to his marque college – follow me, we can catch Rea.

Behind the Ducati duo, Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) had dispatched of Sykes and Razgatlioglu down the start/finish straight and had his sight firmly set on van der Mark in third. Matters swiftly got worse for Sykes who dropped position after position and retired his BMW a few laps later.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) was the man on the move and made his way up the order from P11 on the grid. By Lap 5 he had caught up with Razgatlioglu in sixth and pulled out of the Yamaha’s slipstream down the start/finish straight to take the position into Turn 1.

Out front, Rinaldi was marginally quicker than Rea, but the Kawasaki rider responded immediately and kept the gap to the Ducatis at about a second. Several duels had developed behind him with Rinaldi and Redding holding an advantage over van der Mark and Bautista who had clear air between themselves and Davies and Razgatlioglu.

With the Honda power on his side, Bautista made van der Mark look stationary down the start/finish straight with 13 laps remaining. He swept into fourth with the Ducatis ahead his next targets.

Redding decided to take matters into his own hands when he pulled out of Rinaldi’s slipstream down the start/finish straight going into Lap 9 and now led the charge on Rea. Redding briefly looked like he could reduce the gap, but yet again the reigning champion responded and stretched out the lead.

Davies had pulled away from Razgatlioglu and was all over van der Mark’s rear tyre by Lap 13. The Ducati rider took his chance at La Caixa and executed an inch-perfect manoeuvre down the Yamaha’s inside to take fifth. Davies was running a significantly faster pace than Bautista ahead of him, who looked to struggle on the X compound tyre, and gradually reeled in the Honda.

Bautista ran well wide into Turn 1 with six laps to go, leaving the door open for Davies who swept past at Turn 2. Missing drive at corner exit, Bautista subsequently also had to watch van der Mark pass him at Turn 3.

The Spaniard was unwilling to give up and reclaimed the position down the start/finish straight going into Lap 16. With hardly any grip left on his rear tyre though, Bautista had to surrender to van der Mark again when the Dutchman dived down his inside a couple of corners later and this time stayed ahead for good.

Davies was running at great rhythm and gradually reeled in Rinaldi who, similarly to Bautista, was struggling to find grip on the X compound tyre. Davies pounced with three laps remaining and flew past his fellow Ducati down the start/finish straight. While he started to pull away, Rinaldi was falling into the clutches of van der Mark and Bautista.

Out front, Rea managed to hold a comfortable gap over Redding, but the Ducati rider visibly forced him to push, the Kawasaki making all sorts of shapes at corner entry. Despite the pressure coming from his championship rival, Rea brought a 2.6 seconds advantage over the line and became the first ever WorldSBK rider to win in Catalunya.

Redding was unchallenged in second while Davies had broken away from the field in third and the two Brits secured a double-podium for the factory Ducati team.

Van der Mark punched his way past a heavily struggling Rinaldi on the penultimate lap and finished top Yamaha in fourth. Matters got worse for the GoEleven rider who also had to surrender to Bautista at Turn 1 on the last lap and to Razgatliglu through the final turns to eventually take the chequered flag in seventh.

Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) had a great ride to eighth ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Leon Haslam (Team HRC). Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) missed out on a top 10 finish by a tenth but managed to hold wildcard Jonas Folger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) behind him who completed an outstanding WorldSBK debut ride to 12^th from the back of the grid.

Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished 13^th from Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) who secured the last point on offer in 15^th. Returnee Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing) crossed the line just outside the points ranks in 16^th from replacement rider Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing) and Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance). Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Honda Team) took the chequered flag in 19^th and stand-in Valentin Debise (Outdo Kawasaki TPR) rounded out the field. Sykes was the only retirement of the day.