IN
THE
WIND
P28
REA ROLLS ON AT MISANO WORLDSBK
J
onathan Rea (Kawa-
saki Racing Team) is
already the most suc-
cessful rider in terms of
race wins in WorldSBK,
but at Misano, for round
nine of the 2018 FIM
WorldSBK Champion-
ship, July 7-8, he outdid
himself again with
another double to add
to his Laguna and Imola
rampages.
He has won 10 races
this year from the 18
run so far and he has
almost singlehandedly
taken Kawasaki's all-
time race wins score to
second overall, behind
Ducati. There are 120 Kawasaki
wins, and you feel they are not
done yet.
Race one was standard fare,
Rea out in front, in a less-than-
thrilling race to the flag. Chaz
Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
was second by 2.791 and it was
the second podium visit in as
many rounds for Eugene Laverty
and his Milwaukee Aprilia, 3.7
seconds down on Rea.
Laverty had a rear-wheel sen-
sor, or similar, misbehave, and he
ran wide, allowing Davies past.
Davies proved uncatchable as
Laverty's bike bounced its way to
a fully deserved third place.
Rea had to start from ninth
place under the reverse-grid
rules for race two. It was epic
stuff in race two, a world away
from the dry opener, as riders
clashed and passed and went for
each other's positions knowing
they could not allow Michael van
der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldS-
BK) to escape to victory.
Rea was not sure if he had
enough time to do it, as he and
"VDM" were fast in different
places. They were just as fast as
each other overall, but a slight
mistake from VDM with three laps
to go saw Rea through to win by
just 0.334 seconds.
With new front tires around
at Misano in a wider 125-sec-
tion that also makes them taller,
Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Ducati
WorldSBK) lost too much time to
find a good race setup for race
one. He did for race two and was
only 0.595 seconds from Rea.
Rea really had to go in race
two, having to give it all he had to
get from row three to his second
Misano win and the 64th of his
career.
"The race to win is the first
race, because it is a fair race,"
said Rea. "Race two is a handi-
cap race, and sometimes the
chips can fall in your hand, or
not. Today it happened and, of
course, it is more rewarding to
win race two. But it is rewarding
to win this year. We have been
handicapped enough with our
bike. To win with these regula-
tions is already satisfying."
Melandri, so in trouble on day
one after missing practice time
Jonathan Rea had to
work hard for the race-
two win and dedicated
it to the memory of
his late compatriot,
William Dunlop.
