PORTIMAO, Portugal – Jonathan Rea completed a weekend sweep of World Superbike action at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on Sunday.
Rea first won the Superpole race Sunday before completing the weekend sweep by winning the weekend finale. The sweep has moved Rea past Ducati’s Scott Redding for the championship lead.
The Kawasaki rider first faced a challenge from Toprak Razgatlioglu and Loris Baz, with Razgatlioglu challenging Rea entering turn one at the start. Rea was able to sweep around the outside and hold off both men. He would never be challenged again, leading the rest of the way to move to the top of the standings by four points over Redding.
Speaking of Redding, he had his work cut out for him but he managed a strong runner-up result with Michael van der Mark finishing third for the Pata Yamaha squad.
Ducati’s Chaz Davies was fourth, just missing out on the podium. Alvaro Bautista settled for fifth for Team HRC.
Baz, who ran near the front early on, was forced to retire following a crash at turn 15. Maximilian Scheib and Alex Lowes also retired early due to incidents.