Jonathan Rea sets new World Superbikes record in Brno

ByPete Sharland

Updated 09/06/2018 at 13:02 GMT

Jonathan Rea of Kawasaki won his 60th World Superbikes race on Saturday as he triumphed in Race 1 at Brno to set a new record of race wins, breaking Carl Fogarty’s 59.

Rea’s team-mate Tom Sykes started on pole but the first run of Race 1 had to be red flagged due to safety conditions on Turn 5 as Michael Ruben Rinaldi went down.

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The restart, which was shortened to 17 laps, then saw a lights failure as they came on and off, causing a false start which thankfully did not result in any kind of collision but did cause further delays.

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Sykes on pole after edging out Rea in Czech Republic

09/06/2018 at 10:37

When the race, the first in Brno since 2012, finally got underway it was then shortened again to 16 laps and Rea immediately opened up a lead at the top of the race.

After the opening few laps Ducati’s Marco Melandri moved up to second ahead of Sykes with Michael Van der Mark and Alex Lowes in hot pursuit.

Rea powers to record victory in Czech Republic

Melandri pushed hard but he could not catch the irrepressible the Northern Irishman who took his 60th World Superbikes victory, the first Kawasaki victory in Brno since 1993.

It further cements Rea’s status as one of the greatest and he will be looking to double up in Race 2 on Sunday to tighten his grip on the title.

Sykes held off Van der Mark and Lowes to take the final podium spot and move into third in the overall standings, just ten points behind Chaz Davies who finished eighth behind Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori.

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