SBK | Estoril: Rea beats Bautista in a hard-fought Race 2

The rain, the real protagonist of the Portuguese Sunday, gave Superbike respite for Race 2, held on dry roads and a new opportunity for the riders to battle for victory. The great brawl saw the first three protagonists once again, with Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea who at the middle of the race give the break and make the difference again. The first to pass under the checkered flag, however, is Jonathan Rea, who with a textbook overtaking mocked the Ducati rider on the last lap, taking victory number 117.

With the double success of Estoril, Rea becomes the rider who has won the longest in Superbike history and nibbles a few points from world leader Alvaro Bautista, second at the finish line after trying to resist the Northern Irishman’s attacks to the end. The Spaniard manages to stay ahead in the world championship, but after a great battle with his “historic” rival he has to be satisfied with the second step of the podium.

Toprak Razgatlioglu gives up, who in the early stages of the race had tried to dictate the pace by putting himself in front of everyone. The reigning world champion, however, is unable to keep up with the two opponents and pays the checkered flag a delay of well over four seconds, collecting a new third place that does not allow him to undermine Bautista’s leadership. After battling, the Yamaha rider finds himself in a “solo” race in which he travels in third position, while behind him Alex Lowes gets his best result of the season. In the first laps the Briton gets into the fight for the first three, but then stays behind and crosses the finish line in fourth position, more than seven seconds behind the winner.

On this occasion, Lowes is the “first of the others”, mocking Andrea Locatelli who has to be satisfied with fifth position. However, the Yamaha rider from Bergamo manages to put the wheels of his R1 ahead of those of Iker Lecuona’s Honda, seventh at the end of the second heat. He ends the Estoril weekend with a great spin Axel Bassani, who is seventh. The Motocorsa team rider is the best of the independents and also remains ahead of the official Ducati rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who instead does not go beyond eighth place. The top 10 is closed by Xavi Vierge and Xavi Fores, ninth and tenth respectively.