Hat-trick hero Jonathan Rea moves into lead of World Superbike Championship at Portimao in Portugal

The Kawasaki rider trailed Ducati’s Scott Redding by 24 points going into the third round of the season, but Rea – chasing a record sixth world title in a row – was in a class of his own all weekend as he put his rivals to the sword.

He won Saturday’s opening race by five seconds from Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu to pile the pressure on Redding, who dropped back to finish seventh. Dutch rider Michael van der Mark completed the podium in third on the Pata Yamaha.

Rea was again in total control as he won the Superpole race on Sunday by three seconds from Razgatlioglu – his third sprint race victory of the season – with the 33-year-old closing the deficit at the top to a single point on Redding, who took fifth. Behind Razgatlioglu, Frenchman Loris Baz finished third on the Ten Kate Yamaha, with Rea’s team-mate, Alex Lowes, in fourth.

In the final race of the weekend, a determined Rea went around the outside of Razgatlioglu and Baz at Turn 1 to grab the lead, before gradually asserting control at the front.

Redding fought back in a damage limitation exercise and claimed his best result of the weekend in second place, with the 2019 British Superbike champion holding off Michael van der Mark to earn a crucial 20 points.

Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Honda’s Leon Haslam were all involved in separate crashes at Turn 5. Razgatlioglu returned to the track and eventually finished eighth.

Rea, who won the race by 4.3 seconds, now leads the championship by four points from Redding.

“I can’t believe it,” Rea said. “To come here 24 points back to be leading the championship is incredible, especially as I had some worries.

“We didn’t come here in winter testing this year when all the other teams did, and I rode terrible in FP1. I was starting to panic a little bit but I could see my pace in the race was very good, especially at the end when I could do exactly what I wanted.

“It was incredible and my team gave me a great bike.”

Compatriot Eugene Laverty, who finished 10th in Saturday’s race, crossed the line in 12th after crashing at Turn 5. The BMW Motorrad finished outside the points in the Superpole race following a clash with Ducati’s Chaz Davies, who was forced to retire.

World Supersport 300 rider Eunan McGlinchey, making his debut in the class with Team 109 Kawasaki this season, crashed out of the Last Chance qualifier race on Saturday.

The championship breaks for almost three weeks before resuming at Motorland Aragon in Spain, which will host rounds four and five on successive weekends, starting from August 28-30.

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