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Misano WSBK: Rea inherits dominant win after Lowes crash

Jonathan Rea survived two red flags to win the opening World Superbike race at a wet Misano circuit as Alex Lowes crashed from the lead.

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The race was set to start in wet conditions, but big downpour right before the formation lap resulted in the field moving into the pits instead of starting.

After a lengthy pause, pole-sitter Rea kept the lead off the line but a storming start from Lowes ended with him taking the lead at Turn 1 on the second lap.

Lowes and Rea were in a class of their own but the race lasted for only three laps before big rain returned and the red flag was waved again.

Lowes had a sluggish getaway after the second lengthy break and Rea retook the lead, the duo then again rapidly pulling away from the rest.

Unable to quickly make a move this time around, Lowes was all over Rea for several laps but he was finally able to pull off an overtake at Turn 8 on lap 7.

Lowes was able to build a gap from Rea, only to crash two laps later at Turn 11.

Rea then inherited a big lead from Tom Sykes and cruised to the finish to win for the third time this year.

Sykes was closely followed by Chaz Davies, Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista early on but in the end he safely secured second.

Haslam also looked set to beat the two Ducatis only to have his race also end in a crash at Turn 8.

His incident was followed by a mistake from Davies, allowing Bautista through, the Spaniard securing third.

Loris Baz also passed Davies to take an impressive fourth in his only fourth race of the season with the Ten Kate Yamaha squad.

Davies settled for fifth with a massive gap to sixth, which was hotly contested among several riders.

After crashes from Ducati tester Michele Pirro and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Honda's Yuki Takahashi temporarily held the spot but eventually, it was Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) securing the position.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Puccetti Kawasaki) and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha) also passed Takahashi but the former crashed on the last lap.

Cortese salvaged seventh from second on the grid ahead of Takahashi, the injured Leon Camier's replacement securing the best finish of Honda's wretched season.

Lorenzo Zanetti, replacing Eugene Laverty in the GoEleven Ducati team, and Leandro Mercado (Orelac Kawasaki) completed the top 10.

Cla Rider Bike Laps Gap
1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea
Kawasaki 18
2 United Kingdom Tom Sykes
BMW 18 3.692
3 Spain Alvaro Bautista
Ducati 18 7.756
4 France Loris Baz
Yamaha 18 12.932
5 United Kingdom Chaz Davies
Ducati 18 15.801
6 Italy Marco Melandri
Yamaha 18 41.963
7 Germany Sandro Cortese
Yamaha 18 45.967
8 Japan Yuki Takahashi
Honda 18 46.479
9 Italy Lorenzo Zanetti
Ducati 18 47.695
10 Argentina Leandro Mercado
Kawasaki 18 48.026
11 Italy Alessandro Del Bianco
Honda 18 49.700
12 Spain Jordi Torres
Kawasaki 18 49.833
13 Samuele Cavalieri
Ducati 18 1'08.793
14 Japan Ryuichi Kiyonari
Honda 18 1'13.510
15 Germany Markus Reiterberger
BMW 18 1'36.134
Turkey Toprak Razgatlioglu
Kawasaki 17
United Kingdom Leon Haslam
Kawasaki 12
Italy Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Ducati 10
United Kingdom Alex Lowes
Yamaha 8
Italy Michele Pirro
Ducati 8
Switzerland Dominic Schmitter
Yamaha 8

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