Bautista celebrated a dominant victory in Australia

Former MotoGP racer Alvaro Bautista celebrated his victory in the WSBK Championships in Australia with a nearly 15-second lead over second-placed Jonathan Reo. Bautista started the race on Phillip Island from third place, behind both racers at the factory Kawasaki, but overtook Leon Haslam at the start, and then before the end of the first lap Reo, who started the race from the best starting position.

Rea followed the Ducati racer until he was overtaken by Haslam in the next lap. The duel between Reo and Haslam continued and allowed Bautista to escape, leading by four seconds with a three-second lead. In the middle of the race, Haslam overtook his teammate again, but the lap then fell. Rea, however, failed to breathe a sigh of relief as he soon had to defend himself against Alex Lowes on a Yamaha. He managed to keep this behind, but failed to reduce Bautista’s advantage.

Lowes lost third place in the final lap against Marc Melandri, and last place in the fastest five was won by another Yamaha racer, Michael van der Mark.

 

Race results: