World Superbikes: Rea fourth as Bautista wins to extend championship lead
- Published
Jonathan Rea's only win this season came in the Czech Republic in July
Jonathan Rea had to settle for fourth place in race two at the World Superbike round in Aragon as Alvaro Bautista won to extend his championship lead to 47 points.
After beating Rea in an earlier sprint race thriller, defending champion Bautista earned a runaway race two win.
It finished off a perfect Sunday for the 38-year-old Spaniard after he crashed out of Saturday's opener.
Toprak Razgatlioglu was second in race two, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi third.
Bautista's two crashes on Saturday meant his previous 57-point lead over Razgatlioglu was reduced to 37 points, but the Spaniard's double on Sunday was a fine recovery and puts him in a strong position to retain the title going into the remaining rounds in Portimao next weekend and Jerez in late October.
Rea, who finished third in race one behind Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu, started on pole on Sunday. However, the rider from Northern Ireland was passed by Bautista and Andrea Locatelli on the opening lap.
Bautista led by 1.4 seconds by lap four and as the Spaniard continued to extend his lead, Locatelli remained ahead of title-chasing Yamaha team-mate Razgatlioglu before the Italian rider's engine blew with four laps left.
That left the Turkish rider in second spot and he was able to hold off a charging Rinaldi, who continued his impressive form despite the disappointment of losing his Ducati ride alongside Bautista for next season.
Rea again seemed to have major tyre problems on his Kawasaki as he finished almost seven seconds behind third-placed Rinaldi.
In the earlier sprint race, Bautista passed Rea on the final corner after a thrilling three-way battle with Razgatlioglu as the Spaniard came from third on the last lap to take victory.
Rea came in 0.179 seconds behind in second, with Razgatlioglu third.
The Northern Irishman is moving from Kawasaki to Yamaha at the end of this season to fill the spot left vacant by Razgatlioglu's switch to the BMW team.
Six-time champion Rea's sole victory this season came in the Czech Republic in July.
World Superbike standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Spa, Ducati) 504 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Tur, Yamaha) 457
3. Jonathan Rea (GBR, Kawasaki) 328
4. Andrea Locatelli (Ita, Yamaha) 275
5. Axel Bassani (Ita, Ducati) 237
6. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ita, Ducati) 213