VOLUME 56 ISSUE 23 JUNE 11, 2019 P31
that, Rea had to start the short
Superpole race on Sunday from
the last place on the grid. He
was fourth again because of this,
after a wonderful ride through the
field.
It really was not Rea's weekend
when a potential 25-point gift
parcel from Bautista's crash lost
five points along the way, and he
moved 20-points closer to the
top, not 25.
In the final race, a truly strug-
gling Chaz Davies (Aruba.it
Ducati) was taken out of fourth
place and possible podium as he
found pace in the last race of the
three. More regulatory interfer-
ence later, and Melandri got one
penalty—not Rea's two—and that
was just to start the Superpole
race in Misano from six places
further back in the grid.
Just to add another piece of
carbon fiber into the race-three
skip, the race was eventually only
18-laps long, after a late crash
from Ryuichi Kiyonari (Althea
Honda) left the track unsafe.
The final race gave VDM his
first win, Rea an important sec-
ond for the sake of the champion-
ship fight, and Toprak Razgatlio-
glu (Turkish Puccetti Racing)
the second podium in as many
rounds. Third was well deserved
for the top independent rider,
even if lots of other top riders
crashed out, as it was a signifi-
cant improvement on race one.
Van der Mark was full of praise
for his bike setup, and he actu-
ally had the best points score this
weekend, with two seconds and
a third.
"From the first laps, I felt so
much better with the bike, and
we tested a new tank and stuff
in Misano," he said. "We did not
change a lot on the bike, and
that means the whole package is
really good now. I really wanted
to battle with Bautista today, and
I was ready for it. I cannot com-
plain finishing second, second
and first. But Superpole yester-
day was really my own fault as
the bike felt very good—also for
Superpole."
Melandri, until he had run into
Davies, was having a great time
with his modified riding position
after the recent Misano tests,
with two third places turning
around his disasters from Imola
With Rea serving
a double penalty
for bashing into
Alex Lowes, no one
troubled Alvaro
Bautista (19) at
the front of the
Superpole race.
