WSBK Superbike Catalunya Race 1: Where are you guys? Jonathan Rea wins Race 1

De Paolo Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Jonathan Rea triumphs in this first race in Montmeló, leading it from start to finish. Redding and Davies place 2 Ducatis on the podium, but this is not enough to reduce the gap in the Championship.

Jonathan Rea signs his 97th victory in WSBK and takes a little more lead in the World Championship over Scott Redding, who finishes second. Now the Kawasaki rider has a 41-point advantage over the Ducati rider. There are eight races left to go, anything can happen, but it is a fact that the WSBK title is already heading, once again, to Northern Ireland. Chaz Davies put his Ducati on the podium, with satellite rider Michael Rinaldi crashing out to seventh due to a tire failure late in the race. La Panigale is strong, but against Jonathan Rea it is not enough.

The return of Jonas Folger

Jonas Folger started from the back of the grid, having only participated in the Superpole. From 21st position, he was immediately able to return to the chasing group, moving up to tenth place. An excellent debut in Superbike for the 27-year-old German rider, who has previously raced in MotoGP and Superbike. In 2021, he could join Toprak Razgatlioglu in the official Yamaha team.

Domination from testing to racing

The debut of the WSBK category on the Catalan track seemed to be a carbon copy of the battles seen at Motorland. Jonathan Rea harpooned the Superpole, sprinted in the lead then took control over his opponents by maintaining an advantage in the clock which never exceeded two seconds. That's the Cannibal's specialty this year, he's crushing them slowly, making the most of everything he can: Skill in qualifying, starting, managing grip and pace. Scott Redding perhaps did not imagine facing such a strong opponent. With the other Kawasaki factory bike, Alex Lowes finished ninth, 18 seconds behind his teammate, so it's clear that the Ducati is more competitive than the Ninja. It is Jonathan Rea who, with talent, reshuffles the cards on the table.

Rinaldi: Risk doesn't pay off this time

Michael Rinaldi tried to repeat his exploits from Aragón, but this time the Pirelli SCX tire did not allow him. After a very convincing start, a second ahead of Redding, the Rimini driver had to let go. A final battle with fifth-placed Álvaro Bautista cost him more valuable time. The Spaniard from the HRC team also tried the SCX map. Michael van der Mark was the best of the Yamaha riders, fourth, after blocking Toprak Razgatlioglu at the first corner. The Turk lost contact with the lead and finished sixth. In the Yamaha box, there will be discussions this afternoon.

Two more rounds this Sunday

The Catalan round, the sixth on the World Championship calendar, will offer two other highly anticipated races tomorrow: The Superpole at 11 a.m., with ten laps on the program, and race 2 postponed to 15 p.m. to avoid concomitance with MotoGP. After the Spanish event, there will only be two rounds left: October 3-4 in Magny-Cours (France) and October 17-18 in Estoril (Portugal). This track last hosted the Superbike Championship in 1993, so it is completely new to today's teams and riders.

Race 1 ranking:

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Paul Gozzi