In the wet Rea wins WorldSBK Race 1 with Kawasaki in Misano; all the riders use the new SCR1 rear tyre from the Pirelli rain range

The day was that just ended was rather eventful and conditioned by inclement weather at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli which is hosting the seventh round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season this weekend.
In fact, Race 1 was red-flagged and restarted due to the heavy rainfall on the Italian circuit. In the end, finishing in the lead in a race reduced to 18 of the 21 initially scheduled laps was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who rode his Kawasaki ZX-10RR to the top step of the podium ahead of his former teammate, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) and the current Championship leader, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R).

However, the rain was a chance, for the first time in the Championship, to see the new SCR1 rear rain tyres developed this year by Pirelli in action. In fact, all the riders were forced to mount rain tyres and, of the two rear wet solutions available to them, they opted unanimously for the new solutions designed to work very well both with cold and medium temperatures, and especially on slick asphalt that provides little grip.

After taking pole position on Saturday morning, Jonathan Rea went on to take his third victory of the season after the two he took home from Imola.
In Race 1, at the second start, Rea found himself in the second spot on the grid due to the reordering based on the positions on the track when the red flag came out after the first start. The four-time World Champion managed to move into the lead straight away, overtaking Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1). Behind them were Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) and, the first of the Ducati riders, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R), followed by Championship leader and teammate Álvaro Bautista.
During the seventh lap, Lowes launched the decisive attack against Rea, succeeding in overtaking him for the race lead. Unfortunately, the English Yamaha rider threw it all to the wind when he took a disastrous slide on turn 12, ending up in the gravel. Shortly thereafter, Ducati wild card Michele Pirro followed the rider from the Iwata-based manufacturer with a crash and during the twelfth lap, another Ducati rider, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, also crashed out.
In the meantime, Leon Haslam also crashed on turn 5, forced to limp back to pit lane. The second part of the race held no real surprises except for a crash by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) on the final lap. This placed Jonathan Rea on the top step of the podium ahead of his former teammate Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) and Ducati rider Álvaro Bautista who had managed to move into third in the meantime. Also putting in an excellent performance was Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1), fourth over the line and the first of the private teams.

WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:

1) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
3) Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
4) L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
6) M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
7) S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
8) Y. Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
9) L. Zanetti (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
10) L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
11) A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
12) J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
13) S. Cavalieri (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
14) R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
15) M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
RT) T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
RT) L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
RT) M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
RT) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
RT) M. Pirro (BARNI Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
RT) D. Schmitter (iXS Racing powered by YART / Yamaha YZF R1)

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1: 

Due to the rain, in Race 1 all the riders used wet tyres (option R) both on the front and the rear. Specifically, for the rear solution, the riders were able to use the new SCR1 wet solution for the first time in the 200/60 size, designed to provide outstanding performance in the event of rain and on asphalt that provides little grip

Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1: 
• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in 1'46.130 at the 4^th lap 
• Most used front solution: standard SCR (21 out of 21 riders) 
• Most used rear solution: standard SCR1 (21out of 21 riders) 
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 272 km/h, achieved by Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in the 15^th lap 
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 8 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 73, including 34 front and 39 rear • Air temperature: 23° C 
• Asphalt temperature: 26° C