WorldSBK Argentina Superpole Race Results: Rea sprints clear to win

Jonathan Rea got his own back on Alvaro Bautista to claim a comfortable victory in a drama-free Superpole Race at San Juan Villicum in Argentina.

After the furore of Race 1 when six riders refused to take part on safety grounds over concerns about an oil slick surface in scorching temperatures, the cooler climes of Sunday posed no such issues ahead of the Superpole Race.

With a full complement of 19 riders lining up this time, Bautista got the jump at the start to lead into turn one, but Rea – conscious of the Ducati’s evident straight line advantage – bullied his way through at Turn 7 and held his rival off at the end of the back straight.

From here, Rea quickly sprinted clear of his rival, stretching the field as Bautista settled into a lonely second and Toprak Razgatlioglu similarly held his own in third. It’s how the trio remained to the finish, giving new champion Rea pole position for Race 2. 

As one of the six riders who boycotted race one, Chaz Davies produced an eye-catching charge from seventh to fourth, dispatching Yamaha riders Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark – down from second on the grid – and Sandro Cortese in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Having started outside the top ten, Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes worked their way up to eighth and ninth at the chequered flag, thus earning them elevated starting positions for race two, the latter just holding off home hero Leandro Mercado, who powered from last to tenth position. Despite this, he starts 19th again for race two.

Jordi Torres got the better of top Honda rider Leon Camier on the final lap for 11th, with Eugene Laverty, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Marco Melandri completing the points paying positions.

The only DNF was Loris Baz – already carrying a wrist injury – after he high-sided on lap one.

2019 Argentina WorldSBK Superpole Race Results