Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1102141
Rea was 15 seconds be- hind Bautista in race one, five seconds in the 10-lap sprint on Sunday morning, and then 6.8 slower in the final fight. A rejuvenated Chaz took third spot in race one and the final, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) went third in the sprint and Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) led Rea for a long time on merit in the last race, after two tough opening races (after ankle recent surgery and a bad tire choice in race one). Other riders and even bikes got their mojo working more to full whack at Motorland. BMW's split throttle and aero improvement paid off for Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) with a season- best fifth place in the first big race and the sprint, but other issues dropped him back in race two, to 12th place. Lowes was very much on top of his teammate Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) this weekend and all the other Yamaha riders too, even if Cortese was a front-row qualifier. In the championship, a confident Bautista placed himself 39 points ahead of Rea this weekend, 186 to 147. Lowes has 100, VDM 79 and Haslam 74. WorldSSP Proof that the WorldSSP race was again true entertainment comes from the fact that the top four were covered by just 0.732 of a second. It was a brilliant fight, full of guile and big passes. Not part of the top-four party, in the end, was Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) dropping back to a lonely fifth. This was significant for the championship, early on though we are, as Cluzel is now 14 points behind the eventual close race win- ner, Randy Krummenacher (Bardahl Evans Bros Yamaha). Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was the closest challenger to Krummi in Spain; just 0.094 seconds from the win. He had to make his way forward too and nearly made it all the way. Federico Caricasulo (Bardahl Evan Bros. Yamaha) was one of four different race leaders. He ended up third, but when pole winner Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing Yamaha) hit the front, he looked like a win- ner for a while too. He got fourth, and many plaudits for his continual improvement. In the points, Krummenacher has 70, Cluzel 56, Caricasulo 48 and De Rosa 31. WorldSSP300 The start of the WorldSSP300 season was as massive in thrills as it was in numbers with over 50 riders trying to qualify for each race now. They need to split qualifying into heats and then have a final last chance race to complete the grid. The first win of 2019 went to local 16-year-old, in his second sea- son, Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO), from Hugo De Cancellis (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) and the hard-charging Scott Deroue (Moto- port Kawasaki). Champion in 2018, Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec) was knocked off while in the usual mass group contesting the win and no-scored. Gordon Ritchie WorldSBK RACE ONE 1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 3. Chaz Davies (Duc) 4. Alex Lowes (Yam) 5. Tom Sykes (BMW) RACE TWO 1 Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 3. Chaz Davies (Duc) 4. Leon Haslam (Kaw) 5. Alex Lowes (Yam) IN THE WIND P48 Randy Krummenacher (21) topped another thrilling WorldSSP race.