LEICESTERSHIRE, England – Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea completed a World Superbike weekend sweep for the first time this season with a dominant Sunday rout at Donington Park.
With wins in both the Superpole and full-distance events, Rea’s World Superbike total stands at 78 leaving the British round of the championship.
There was action right from the start, with Rea coming out on top after another tough scrap with Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Rea grabbed the holeshot from the pole, but was challenged on lap three when Razgatlioglu took the lead at the circuit where he took his first WorldSBK career podium.
With a strong out-braking maneuver at the Melbourne Loop, Razgatlioglu was able to steal the advantage. However, two laps later, Rea took the lead back and one lap further on, Haslam momentarily got ahead of the Turk at the Foggy Esses.
Back at the Melbourne Loop, Razgatlioglu recovered and the 22-year-old retook second.
Razgatlioglu was able to retake the lead from Rea, with the two riders dancing side-by-side around the Donington Park circuit. Another late-braking move at the Melbourne Loop saw him retake the lead and then put the hammer down.
Razgatlioglu and Rea broke clear of the fading Haslam in third place, while Alvaro Bautista was all over the rear-end of Haslam for the position after a crash on Saturday.
With 12 to go, a rare error at the Foggy Esses from Razgatlioglu allowed Rea to cut through and take the lead back, a lead he wouldn’t relinquish again.
In the closing stages, there were two battles, one for first and second between Rea and Razgatlioglu, and one for third place between Bautista, Alex Lowes, Haslam and Loris Baz. Lowes eventually got ahead of Haslam with just three laps to go.
Going into the final lap, half-a-second split the leading two, while Bautista had a small buffer for a safe third place.
At the finish, it was Rea completing a hat trick over Razgatlioglu, with Bautista completing the podium. Lowes and Haslam finished fourth and fifth, respectively.