World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea survives crash to finish second in final race
- Published
The first of Jonathan Rea's 101 World Superbike wins came at Misano in 2009
Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea survived a crash with Garrett Gerloff to finish second in the third World Superbike race in Aragon.
Northern Irishman Rea, who won the first two races, was forced off the road by the Yamaha rider on lap three.
Rea recovered after a trip through the gravel to finish on the podium at the Spanish circuit.
England's Scott Redding took victory to rescue a difficult weekend for the Ducati rider.
On a damp but drying circuit, Rea led from the lights as Gerloff moved ahead of Alex Lowes into second position.
Gerloff then crashed into leader Rea on lap three after making a late lunge at turn 14, with the American sliding into the Northern Irishman and crashing out while Rea rejoined in fourth place after a trip through the gravel.
Gerloff remounted and recovered to 10th position but was handed a long-lap penalty for causing a collision. He eventually finished in seventh position.
The incident allowed Yamaha rider Toprak Razgatlioglu to hit the front while Redding, the only rider to select slick tyres, took the lead on lap five and pulled away as the circuit continued to dry.
While Redding cruised to victory out front, the battle for second was intense with Lowes, Rea, Razgatlioglu and the BMW duo of Michael van der Mark and Tom Sykes all trading positions on several occasions.
Rea eventually got the better of van der Mark for second with six laps to go and managed to break away as the Dutch rider, Sykes and Lowes all scrapped for the final podium place.
Kawasaki rider Lowes prevailed to complete the rostrum with Sykes and van der Mark rounding out the top five.
Rea leads Lowes by 15 points after the opening round of the championship, with Redding two points further back in third.
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Wales' Chaz Davies crashed out on the opening lap of the race from fourth position but he remounted to finish in 19th position.
Northern Ireland's Eugene Laverty finished out of the points in 17th position in his 200th World Superbike race.
Rea became the first rider in the history of World Superbikes to rack up a century of race victories when he won the opening feature race on Saturday. He doubled up by winning the Superpole sprint race on Sunday.
His tally has been accumulated over a 12-year period, with 85 of his triumphs being achieved on a Kawasaki and 15 accomplished on a Honda.
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