World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea crashes out as Alex Lowes wins Sunday's races

Jonathan Rea was outside the points in his first competitive outing for Pata Yamaha

Jonathan Rea crashed out of race two at the opening 2024 World Superbike round at Phillip Island to complete his miserable weekend as England's Alex Lowes won both of Sunday's races.

Rea had been lying fifth when he crashed heavily on lap three.

He was taken to the medical centre but his Pata Yamaha team later tweeted a photo of Rea standing talking to a Yamaha official in his team garage.

Rea later said he was "physically OK" following his second crash of the week.

"I hit my hip quite hard in the crash but no further injuries from Tuesday," added the six-time World Superbike champion.

"They were two big crashes this week but I'm still in one piece.

"I'm really frustrated because the crash came as a big surprise, it was as I was building my confidence on the bike and feeling quite good."

'We can get there'

After finishing 17th in Race One on Saturday, the Northern Irishman had spoken of feeling "lost" amid handling problems with his bike but he sounded a more optimistic note after Sunday's crash, pointing out that his Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli had achieved runner-up finishes in two of the weekend's three races.

"You can see with how competitive Loka is that we can get there - I want to go home now to regroup, reset and come back stronger in Barcelona."

The incident involving the Northern Irishman resulted in the race being red-flagged and later restarted over a reduced distance of 11 laps instead of the scheduled 20.

Following the crash Rea was "declared unfit" to take part in the restart.

The race was won by Rea's former Kawasaki team-mate Lowes, who also won Sunday's earlier 10-lap Superpole race.

Defending two-time champion Alvaro Bautista was second in race two on his Ducati, with another Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci third.

Jonathan Rea had to be stretchered off the circuit after crashing at Phillip Island but Yamaha later tweeted a picture of the rider standing in the team garage

Locatelli and Toprak Razgatlioglu made up the rostrum positions in the Superpole event, with Rea back in 10th, out of the points.

Rea failed to score a point over the course of the weekend on his debut competitive outing for his new Yamaha team, having suffered set-up problems with his machine and initially crashing during a test at Phillip Island on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old finished in a lowly 17th position in race one on Saturday, crossing the line 38 seconds behind race winner Nicolo Bulega, who won on his World Superbike bow.

He was followed home by fellow Italians Locatelli and Andrea Iannone on that occasion.

Bautista had to settle for 15th in Saturday's opener after an early crash dropped him out of contention as he challenged for a top-three spot.

Lowes leads the series by nine points from Bulega going into the second round of races in Barcelona from 22-24 March.