In WorldSBK Race 1 at Imola Jonathan Rea on Kawasaki is back to his winning ways while the larger size Pirelli solutions contribute to setting new track records

After 11 consecutive races off the top step of the podium, reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea and his Kawasaki ZX-10RR are back to their winning ways in the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship, taking a gamble on the brand new larger size soft rear tyre that Pirelli brought to make its début precisely in this round.

Today at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, the Northern Irish Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK rider, who had not won a race since the final round of 2018 in Qatar, broke the impressive streak by Álvaro Bautista and the new Ducati Panigale V4 R which had won all the championship races this season until now.

Tyre strategy may have contributed to Jonathan Rea’s win: in fact, the four-time World Champion, as well as all the Kawasaki riders except Hector Barbera, used the new Y0446 larger size soft solution on the rear, whereas everyone else on the grid, including the Ducati rider, preferred the better-known standard SC0, also in the larger size. In any case, this did not penalise the Ducati riders, since Chaz Davies managed to take Superpole^® this morning with a time of 1’45.180, improving on his own record from 2016 by 4 tenths of a second.

At the start of Race 1, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), who was on the second spot of the grid, got off the line well, immediately managing to get past Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) who, shortly thereafter, went wide on a turn, but managed to rejoin in last place.
Three laps later, Rea was in the lead with an advantage of more than one second ahead of Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and almost three seconds ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR), lying third after starting from the sixth spot on the grid. In the meantime, the defending World Champion set the new race lap record with a time of 1.46'023.
About the mid-race point, the Spanish Ducati rider, current leader in the championship standings, got dangerously close to Rea, but Kawasaki rider managed not only to fend off his attacks, but also to increase the gap to 5.5 seconds.
In the meantime, Tom Sykes was unable to hold onto third due to technical problems and was overtaken first by Michael Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1) and then by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), exploiting the situation to move temporarily into a podium position.
In the finale, Jonathan Rea increased his advantage over Bautista to 9 seconds and more than 20 seconds over the other riders, while a battle was being waged between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael Van Der Mark for the bottom step of the podium. In the end, the independent Turkish Puccetti Racing team rider gained the upper hand.When the chequered flag came out, it was Jonathan Rea back on the top step of the podium ahead of Álvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu, with an outstanding third and his first podium finish of the year.
It was an unlucky race for Chaz Davies who, after taking pole position, was forced to retire due to technical problems.

WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:

1) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2) Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
3) T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
4) M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
6) M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
7) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
8) M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
9) L. Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing/ Ducati Panigale V4 R) - Wild Card
10) M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
11) J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
12) T. Bridewell (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R) – subbing for Eugene Laverty
13) H. Barbera (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
14) R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
15) A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
RT) S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
RT) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
RT) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)

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

In Race 1, rider choices for the front tyre were rather unanimous. No less than 15 of the 18 riders on the grid opted for the standard SC1 in the larger 125/70 size (option A). The only riders making a different choice were Markus Reiterberger, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Riuchi Kiyonari who instead preferred using the X1071 SC2 development solutions in the larger 125/70 size (option B).
Choices for the rear tyre varied a bit more, although the standard SC0 in the larger 200/65 size (option B) is still the solution most of the riders used. Taking a gamble on the new Y0446 SC0 development tyre in 200/65 (option A) were the Kawasaki riders (except for Barbera), Tom Sykes with BMW and Lorenzo Zanetti with Ducati.

Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in 1'46.023 at the 3^rd lap

• Most used front solution: standard SC1 125/70 (15 out of 18 riders)

• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 200/65 (13 out of 18 riders)

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 282.9 km/h, achieved by Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing/ Ducati Panigale V4 R) in the 13^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: 71, including 33 front and 38 rear

• Air temperature: 21° C

• Asphalt temperature: 32° C