Jonathan Rea 10th in Race Two at Portimao after penalty as World Superbike champion-elect Alvaro Bautista seals treble

Spain’s Alvaro Bautista narrowly missed out on retaining the title after sealing a treble, but the former MotoGP rider has all but put the outcome beyond doubt heading into the final round at the end of October.

Rea, who crashed out of the earlier Superpole race, started from 10th position on the grid as a result of his spill in the morning race.

The Northern Ireland rider was involved in a collision on the first lap at Turn 3 with Honda’s Xavi Vierge and Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW).

Vierge crashed while Redding stayed upright after running into the gravel, with both riders re-joining the race.

Rea was able to fight his way through to finish in 10th place in the 20-lap encounter, which was won by champion-elect Alvaro Bautista on the Aruba.it Ducati following a thrilling duel with Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu.

The title rivals swapped places relentlessly throughout the race with nothing between them, but once again Bautista was able to use the superior speed of his Panigale V4R to win a drag race to the line, wrapping up a hat-trick in the Algarve by 0.126s.

Bautista’s team-mate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, was 1.6s further back as he secured the final place on the podium.

Reigning champion Bautista, who also edged out Razgatlioglu in a last-lap dash to the line in the Superpole race, sealed a record 56th Ducati victory in World Superbikes, putting him one ahead of four-time champion Carl Fogarty.

The 38-year-old has now won a record-breaking 24 races this year and leads Razgatlioglu by 60 points with only a possible 62 on the table at the final round at Jerez in Spain from October 27-29.

American Garrett Gerloff was fourth in Race Two on the Bonovo Action BMW ahead of Pata Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Ducati).

Alex Lowes was ruled out after crashing in the Superpole race on the factory Kawasaki.

Six-time champion Rea, who will replace Razgatlioglu at Pata Yamaha in 2024, is third in the standings, 50 points clear of Locatelli.

Razgatlioglu will make the switch to the factory BMW team next season, while Italy’s Axel Bassani will take over the vacant seat left at Kawasaki by Rea.

On Saturday, Rea clinched a battling third in the opening race in Portugal behind Bautista and Razgatlioglu.

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Jonathan Rea crashes out of World Superbike Superpole race at Portimao in Portugal