by Robert Jones
ALVARO Bautista delivered another supreme ride before Leon Camier and Thitipong Warokorn’s crash brought the race to an early end.
After making some slight adjustments to the front end in the morning’s warm up, Bautista and the Ducati looked considerably more comfortable compared to Saturday’s race one.
The start saw a repeat of the first race as Jonathan Rea took the advantage immediately at turn one, with the intention to break Bautista’s rhythm at any given opportunity. But after yesterday’s fierce challenge from Rea, Bautista was determined to not get embroiled in another battle at the front.
The Ducati rider was able to make short work of the four-time champion as he pounced at turn four to regain the lead.
As the Spaniard pulled away, Rea started to come under pressure from Alex Lowes, who found something on his Yamaha setup that he seemed very comfortable with.
As the English rider started to challenge for second position with only 4 laps remaining, the race came to an end when Honda rider Camier and Kawasaki wildcard Warokorn made contact at turn three.
With the crash at the side of the track and medical assistance needed, race direction made the right call to red flag the race.
The riders having just completed half race distance, the result was considered final. Bautista goes into the day’s second feature race looking for his sixth win from as many races.
Bautista’s teammate Chaz Davies rebounded very nicely today, as the Ducati rider improved his pace drastically in the warm up. The Welshman charged through the field to finish eighth and it could have been more without the stoppage.
Davies will be looking to build on his race two resurgence and finish the weekend in style.