Jonathan Rea Claims Another Record
Two weeks ago at the French round of World Superbike, Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea became the first racer to earn four-straight World Superbike titles. This occurred after his race-one win from pole at Magny-Cours.
The 31-year-old Northern Irishman followed with the race-two victory – his eight-straight WSBK victory.
After qualifying second behind Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Marco Melandri, Rea bounced back into untouchable mode, claiming the double at Argentina World Superbike 2018.
Rea led every lap of race one on Saturday, and with the win he helped Kawasaki claim its fourth-straight manufacturer’s title.
But Rea had to put in the extra effort Sunday. He started from ninth, and was into second by the fourth lap, chasing down leader Barni Racing Ducati’s Xavi Fores. By lap nine Rea was in the lead, and kept it through the final 21st lap.
2018 Argentina World Superbike Race 1
- Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki ZX-10RR
- Marco Melandri, Ducati 1199 R
- Toprak Razgatlioglu, Kawasaki ZX-10RR
2018 Argentina World Superbike Race 2
- Jonathan Rea Kawasaki ZX-10R
- Xavi Fores, Ducati 1199 R
- Marco Melandri, Ducati 1199 R
Ahead of Argentina, Rea set records for most race wins and most podium finishes. And now he claimed another record – 10-straight WorldSBK race wins, beating the record of nine held by Neil Hodgson since 2003.
“If I went off line to pass, I could not be creative with my line choices. Everybody was pretty much on the same line so the passes had to be set up a few corners in advance. Once I settled into my rhythm I was able to clock off the lap times and pick off riders one by one.
“When I got clear track to Fores I tracked him down quite fast, but then there was the matter of passing him. Today has been difficult because I caught some kind of virus last night. I was ill all night from one o’clock until five this morning. It was good to have the race at 4pm because most of the day I have been sleeping in the cabin, regaining energy!”
Rea, who now has a record 60 wins in the WorldSBK championship, can claim two more records at the final round at Losail International Circuit in Qatar: most wins in a single season, and most points in a single season.
The series breaks for two weeks before the final round in Qatar, which is set for October 25-27. Like MotoGP, both races at Losail will be held under the floodlights.
2018 Argentina World Superbike Results, Race 1
Pos. | Rider | Manufacturer | Nationality | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | GBR | 34’55.037 |
2 | Marco Melandri | Ducati | ITA | 00’09.163 |
3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | TUR | 00’11.410 |
4 | Xavi Fores | Ducati | ESP | 00’11.796 |
5 | Eugene Laverty | Aprilia | GBR | 00’12.441 |
6 | Tom Sykes | Kawasaki | GBR | 00’12.690 |
7 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | GBR | 00’15.597 |
8 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | NLD | 00’16.846 |
9 | Loris Baz | BMW | FRA | 00’28.117 |
10 | Leon Camier | Honda | GBR | 00’28.164 |
11 | Florian Marino | Honda | FRA | 00’41.449 |
12 | Román Ramos | Kawasaki | ESP | 00’41.783 |
13 | Maximilliam Scheib | MV Agusta | CHL | 00’47.736 |
14 | Gabriele Ruiu | Kawasaki | ITA | 00’55.986 |
2018 Argentina World Superbike Results, Race 2
Pos. | Rider | Manufacturer | Nationality | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | GBR | 35’13.668 |
2 | Xavi Fores | Ducati | ESP | 00’03.273 |
3 | Marco Melandri | Ducati | ITA | 00’04.560 |
4 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | GBR | 00’06.838 |
5 | Tom Sykes | Kawasaki | GBR | 00’09.377 |
6 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | GBR | 00’10.945 |
7 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | TUR | 00’12.638 |
8 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia | ITA | 00’13.958 |
9 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | NLD | 00’15.715 |
10 | Jake Gagne | Honda | USA | 00’20.861 |
11 | Loris Baz | BMW | FRA | 00’25.595 |
12 | Leandro Mercado | Aprilia | ARG | 00’33.171 |
13 | Román Ramos | Kawasaki | ESP | 00’47.254 |
14 | Gabriele Ruiu | Kawasaki | ITA | 00’55.140 |
2018 World Superbike Point Standings (after 12 of 13 rounds)
Pos. | Rider | Manufacturer | Nationality | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | GBR | 520 |
2 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | GBR | 348 |
3 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | NLD | 324 |
4 | Marco Melandri | Ducati | ITA | 296 |
5 | Tom Sykes | Kawasaki | GBR | 294 |
6 | Alex Lowes | Yamaha | GBR | 232 |
7 | Xavi Fores | Ducati | ESP | 217 |
8 | Eugene Laverty | Aprilia | GBR | 145 |
9 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Kawasaki | TUR | 145 |
10 | Lorenzo Savadori | Aprilia | ITA | 132 |
11 | Loris Baz | BMW | FRA | 127 |
12 | Leon Camier | Honda | GBR | 108 |
13 | Jordi Torres | MV Agusta | ESP | 98 |
14 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | Ducati | ITA | 73 |
15 | Román Ramos | Kawasaki | ESP | 67 |
16 | Leandro Mercado | Aprilia | ARG | 66 |
17 | Jake Gagne | Honda | USA | 57 |
18 | Yonny Hernandez | Kawasaki | COL | 27 |
19 | Patrick Jacobsen | Honda | USA | 19 |
20 | Leon Haslam | Kawasaki | GBR | 14 |
21 | Davide Giugliano | Aprilia | ITA | 8 |
22 | Niccolò Canepa | Yamaha | ITA | 7 |
23 | Florian Marino | Honda | FRA | 5 |
24 | Karel Hanika | Yamaha | CZE | 5 |
25 | Gabriele Ruiu | Kawasaki | ITA | 4 |
26 | Bradley Ray | Suzuki | GBR | 3 |
27 | Maximilliam Scheib | MV Agusta | CHL | 3 |
28 | Ondrej Jezek | Kawasaki | CZE | 3 |
29 | Luke Mossey | Kawasaki | GBR | 2 |
30 | Alessandro Andreozzi | Yamaha | ITA | 1 |