REA WINS AGAIN AT QATAR WORLDSBK WEATHER-
SHORTENED FINAL; CORTESE WINS SUPERSPORT TITLE
L
osail and the floodlit races
provided a great backdrop
this season for the final WorldS-
BK round at Qatar, October
26-27, and what would surely be
even more all-time record break-
ing from the four-time champion
Jonathan Rea (KRT). He went
for—what would have been—new
high-water marks of 12 straight
wins, 18 race wins in a single
season and more than the 556
points that already make him the
biggest points scorer in a single
season.
He lost Superpole to his
departing teammate Tom Sykes
(KRT) but hit the highs with a
race-one win despite some is-
sues with front tire life. But then,
on the unique Saturday race, not
held on the more usual Sunday
of other rounds, the high-water
mark was only measured in ac-
tual water.
Little rivers of water plagued
some areas of the circuit, caus-
ing fear that the entire Saturday
would be lost.
As it transpired, WorldSBK
and WorldSSP warm-up sessions
were made, representations to
race control were made, but only
the championship-deciding race
in WorldSSP went ahead.
The second Superbike race,
the 26th and supposedly last of
the season, did not.
They played it tough in race
one, in glorious floodlit weather
on Friday, but once again nobody
could stop Rea, and he added
some more records. He now
shares the status of having 17
race wins in a single season with
Doug Polen. He has now put in 11
straight wins recently, extending
his own record still further.
Rea was champion five races
before the end but behind his
imperious wake, second place in
the rankings went to Chaz Davies
(Aruba.it Ducati) who finished his
year 23 points ahead of Michael
van der Mark (Pata Yamaha). A
new third-place man overall, after
Davies and Tom Sykes (KRT)
IN
THE
WIND
P42
Jonathan Rea leads
teammate Tom
Sykes en route
to victory at the
weather-shortened
final WorldSBK
round in Qatar.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
