Alex Lowes ended his wait for a maiden victory in WorldSBK after a dramatic second race at Brno on Sunday. The Briton led a Pata Yamaha 1-2 ahead of Michael van der Mark in a race also notable for a dramatic collision between world champion Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes, with neither scoring points.
After his dominant and record-breaking victory the day before, Rea had been expected to complete a double success on Sunday despite starting ninth on the grid. However, the Ulsterman met stubborn resistance in the form of Sykes with the pair almost coming to blows on lap one, but when Rea attempted to pass the Yorkshireman for a second time, his race would soon end.
Into turn 13, Rea made a late dive up the inside of his team-mate but slid slightly wide, opening the door for Sykes to regain the position. However, as he did so, Sykes made contact with the no.1 Kawasaki and sent it into retirement. Race direction declared it a racing incident but Rea’s sarcastic applause left onlookers in no doubt who he felt was to blame. To make matters even worse for KRT, Sykes would crash out himself a couple of laps later.
Despite the demise of both Kawasakis, Yamaha still faced competition from Ducati’s Marco Melandri and the Italian grabbed the lead at the start of lap five. His lead only lasted a single corner though as he overshot turn three, dropping him to the tail of the field. With that, the path was clear for Yamaha to secure their first 1-2 for six years with Lowes finally breaking his duck at the 118th attempt.
Chaz Davies ended a tough weekend on a high with third ahead of the Aprilias of Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori while Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished a career-best sixth, comfortably clear of Leon Camier and Xavi Fores. For the second time in three races, Toprak Razgatlioglu was the leading Kawasaki after beating Roman Ramos for ninth.
WorldSBK 2018: Acerbis Czech Round: Race Two
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