Rea overhauls Sykes in dramatic rain-hit race
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Jonathan Rea scored a potentially pivotal victory in the first World Superbike race at Portim?o after beating Tom Sykes in a dramatic, rain-interrupted race.
It seemed as though the fight for the victory would go all the way down to the final lap until Sykes' ZX-10R began cutting out on the penultimate lap, leaving Rea to speed clear to win by nine seconds.
Chaz Davies completed the podium after a race-long battle with Leon Haslam ended with the Aprilia man falling out of contention on lap seventeen.
Matters were complicated by a rain shower that arrived with six laps remaining, forcing the field into pit lane for a change of tyres. With the order appearing to settle into a predicable pattern, the top ten was subsequently shaken up and Rea, who had began to decisively eke clear, was reeled back into the clutches of his team-mate.
As the rainfall increased in intensity, Sykes was the only man to stay out on an ever-dampening track on slick tyres while the others pitted at the close of lap fifteen.
Yet when the 2013 world champion rejoined the action after pitting a lap later, both he and Rea were together once again, setting up a potential last lap show down that both riders looked determined to win.
The sparse crowds around the Algarve circuit would ultimately be deprived of such a battle as Sykes' machine refused to go beyond 9,000 revs on the penultimate lap, halting the momentum from Donington that had, until now, carried him strongly through the weekend.
It was easily the most complicated of Rea's nine wins this year after starting from eighth on the grid. A stunning start coupled with an aggressive first lap saw him sit second, behind the fast-starting Sykes, at the close of lap one as Chaz Davies and Leon Haslam slotted into third and fourth.
Pole sitter Davide Giugliano began an error-strewn race by running off track on lap two, dropping him from fifth to ninth.
While the Kawasakis pulled clear with Davies and Haslam over two seconds behind, an exciting six-way fight for fifth developed with Leandro Mercado impressively leading Ayrton Badovini, Sylvain Guintoli, Jordi Torres, Matteo Baiocco and the recovering Giugliano.
Rea stalked Sykes for the first ten laps before making his better drive out of the final corner count along the undulating front straight on lap twelve. His prospects were enhanced by a subsequent mistake from Sykes before the Englishman was handed a reprieve of sorts as the rain started falling.
A tasty battle for third was also in full swing between Davies and Haslam before the morning shower. Haslam went on to crash at turn five on lap 16 but was able to remount to finish twelfth.
Contrastingly, Giugliano was able to climb to fourth at the flag after taking full advantage of the changeable conditions.
Always in the battle for fifth, Guintoli made impressive ground in the closing stages to finish fifth, a place ahead of Matteo Baiocco.
Alex Lowes was sitting a fine fifth on lap three but ran off track at turn five and dropped down to twelfth as a result. The Englishman would eventually finish eleventh at the flag.
