Jonathan Rea finished third in both races and Lowes got the best qualifying from him with a seventh-place finish in the Superpole Race, on a weekend marked by extreme heat.
Jonathan Rea maintains the good pace shown in the previous test at Donington Park, both in terms of qualifying with two podiums obtained, and the good feelings shown despite running with temperatures that reached 58º on the track from Imola.
In Saturday's Superpole, Rea qualified in seventh position, while his teammate Alex Lowes was eleventh after being penalized on his best lap for breaking track limits. So they started the first race from the third and fourth row respectively.
The extreme heat before the first race was crucial for the choice of tires that the teams had to choose. Rea managed to get third on the fifth lap of the first race, a position that he would not leave until the end of it. Ahead of him were Álvaro Bautista, and the second classified, Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Lowes started from eleventh and moved up to ninth on lap nine, finishing just 0.355sec behind Loris Baz in eighth.
In the sprint race on Sunday morning, Rea was fourth and fell 0.2 seconds away from another podium finish at Imola in the Tissot Race, failing to overtake Andrea Locatelli at the end of the race. Lowes finished seventh after starting 11th on the grid and starting from the fourth row.
Due to the high temperatures and following the advice of the championship medical authorities and the request of the riders, the second WorldSBK race was reduced to 15 laps, instead of the planned 19. Rea fought for second place with Axel Bassani but was unable to prevail over the Italian who fell away in the last few laps. With this eighth podium achieved this season, Rea closes the distance with the third classified, Andrea Locatelli, to just seven points.
Starting from seventh, Alex Lowes was unfortunate enough to crash in Sunday's second race at Imola, after running up to fifth position showing a high degree of confidence following some set-up changes made to his bike, he’s in eighth position in the general standings.
STATEMENTS:
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): “There was a moment in the second race where I thought we could fight a bit more, to be honest. We knew most of the rivals would be running the SCX tyre, after a few laps I thought: 'Maybe I hit the jackpot on this tyre? But towards the end of the race it was very difficult for me to control the front of the bike and also the changes of direction. I'm happy with our points haul and this was probably our best weekend of the season, with two podium finishes in the feature races."
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): “We did the best we could and I'm already looking forward to Most in a couple of weeks. I want to thank the whole team, because when it's so hot, it's hot for everyone, not just the riders. You always have my thanks, but in these extreme conditions it's a special thanks to everyone at KRT and Kawasaki."
Our website uses cookies to offer you a better service.
By selecting your country we can offer you a more personalized view of our product.
