The two fastest racers in WSB dominated the weekend at Portimão. Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea won the opening race on Saturday, as well as the Superpole race earlier today. In Race 1 on Saturday, Chaz Davies (Ducati) and Michael van der Mark (Yamaha) filled out the podium behind Rea. Davies and teammate Alvaro Bautista nearly came together in the first corner of the race, forcing Bautista to recover from 16th position to finish fourth.
Bautista had the measure of his rivals in Race 2 on Sunday by taking a narrow win over Rea. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki) finished third to fill out the podium. Bautista’s win in Race 2 was his 15th victory this year, although it has been more than two months since his last win.
Rea leaves the weekend having padded his sizeable points lead in the championship. You will find full results for Race 1 here, the Superpole race here and Race 2 here. For additional details and points, visit the official WSB site.
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So what happened to cause Bautista’s dominance to come to a skidding halt? Did Kawasaki pour major money into Dorna’s coffers and ask them to change the rules in their favor? Did Bautista forget how to ride a motorcycle? How embarrassing to have such a massive lead fall off the table.
Odd that they seemed to single out one guy after several years of domination by one guy and very little done to curb that? So now we get more JR whether we like it or not. Either way I say NEVER change the rules after setting them. In this case were I Ducati,I’d leave period!
I’m as curious as anyone, why Bautista imploded (though I predicted before the start of the year that he would). My guess: that’s just what he does. I’m sure he’s a great guy and is obviously talented. But in MotoGP he had plenty of inexplicable, uh, race early exits. Long history.
It’s hard to see if or how he was singled out, any more than Rea (Rea and the Kawi have been VERY specifically targeted in the past). If you think losing a few revs slowed that V4R down, you weren’t watching how Bautista could still pass anyone lower than about the top three in Portugal, at will, early, on any straightaway, without drafting. Bike has plenty of punch and rider can win. Why they don’t? I dunno but it’s not for lack of power.
The rpm limit change to the Ducati didn’t really change anything, even if it was uncalled for (Bautista was the only competitive Duc at that time). Davies has managed wins since. Don’t know how Bautista lost his advantage. Sounds like he’s headed for Honda next year, anyway.