WorldSBK at Donington Park: Rea wins Race 1 in the wet to become the new Championship leader; riders choose the new Pirelli DIABLO™ Rain tyres in SCR1 compound unanimously

Castle Donington (UK), 6 July 2019 – Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea won Race 1 at the Donington Park circuit in England for the eighth round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship.With this win, earned after riding an extraordinary race in the wet, leading from flag to flat, the Northern Irishman takes home 25 extremely important points that place him, for the first time this year, in the lead of the overall standings of the Championship for factory derivative bikes. He now has a 9-point advantage over Ducati rider Álvaro Bautista who was forced to retire after a crash in this first race of the English weekend

Given the rainfall on Saturday morning and in the early afternoon, all the riders in Race 1 used standard Pirelli DIABLO™ Rain tyres on both the front and rear. Of the two available rear options, the new tyre in SCR1 compound, particularly suited in the event of low temperatures, was the one chosen by all the riders on the grid.Despite winning Superpole^® during the morning, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) was unable to exploit his starting position from the first spot on the grid, and he was overtaken by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR). The latter moved into the lead, where he would remain for the entire race, finishing with an advantage of more than 11 seconds ahead of his former teammate and current BMW rider.Behind them, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) had to defend third against attacks by Frenchman Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1) who managed to overtake him during the second lap, only to return the position during the seventh.The unexpected twists came at the mid-race point, when Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) and Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and then Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) crashed out in the tenth and eleventh laps respectively, ending the race early for both riders.This left Rea with nothing but open track ahead and, taking advantage of the Spanish Ducati rider’s DNF, he was able to take the lead in the overall championship standings for the first time in seven rounds.Also noteworthy was the performance by Loris Baz, finishing fourth with the independent Ten Kate Racing team Yamaha, as well as Peter Hickman’s seventh place (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR), called up by the Bavarian brand to sub for Markus Reiterberger who is out with the flu.

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) L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
4) L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
6) L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
7) P. Hickman (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
8) M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
9) A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
10) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
11) R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
12) M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
13) T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
14) M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
RT) Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
RT) J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
RT) S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1: 
Due to the rain, in Race 1 all the riders had to opt for wet tyres on both the front and the rear. Specifically, on the rear, of the two rain options available to the riders, all of them opted for the new standard DIABLO™ Rain in the SCR1 compound.

Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
 
• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) in 1'39.455 at the 7th lap
 
• Most used front solution: standard SCR (17 out of 17 riders)
 
• Most used rear solution: standard SCR1 (17 out of 17 riders)
 
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 261.1 km/h, achieved by Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in the 8th and 9th laps
 
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 7 rear
 
Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 67, including 34 front and 33 rear
 
• Air temperature: 16° C
 
• Asphalt temperature: 18° C