Jonathan Rea says he is 'so far away' from fighting with Alvaro Bautista for race wins in the World Superbike Championship

Rea finished fifth in the final race of the weekend on Sunday after crashing in the Superpole encounter.

The Kawasaki rider slid out at the end of the long front straight as Toprak Razgatlioglu overtook him on the brakes into Turn 1 at the start of the last lap.

It was a fast spill for six-time champion Rea, who fortunately escaped unhurt. Light rain was falling at the time and Rea lost the front of his machine when he touched the white line.

The 36-year-old had to start race two from 10th place on the grid, leaving Rea with a mountain to climb to reach the podium.

He dug deep and made his way through the pack, finally moving into fifth spot behind his Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes.

Reigning champion Bautista was completely dominant once more, with the Aruba.it Ducati rider winning with ease to secure his third hat-trick in four rounds this season.

The 38-year-old has won all 11 races he has finished on the V4R Panigale, with the only blot in Bautista’s copybook a crash in the Superpole race in Indonesia.

Rea said: “I think we just need to do great work every weekend and put all the stars in line from a team point of view to battle for the podium.

“We’re so far off battling for a race win. We know what needs to be done, the team knows what needs to be done, but it’s not something we can react to right now.

“This is our situation. You push the team on a daily basis, at the track, at the tests, but sometimes it’s very frustrating, especially when you’re riding with some other bikes on track, it really highlights our difficulties,” he added.

“But you never give up and the team are working so hard on what we can control at the minute.”

Former MotoGP rider Bautista, who has signed an extension to his Ducati contract until the end of the 2024 season, now leads Yamaha’s Razgatlioglu by 69 points.

Razgatlioglu mugged Bautista’s team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the exit of the final corner on the last lap to snatch the runner-up spot.

Rinaldi looked certain to finish second for an Aruba.it Ducati one-two, but the Italian lost ground rapidly due to rear tyre fade.

Rea – third on the Kawasaki in Saturday’s opening race – is 136 points behind Bautista.

The 38-year-old Ducati rider’s winning margin over Razgatlioglu in race two was 8.5s, with Rea a further four seconds back as he crossed the line in fifth.

Xavi Vierge rounded out the top six on the factory Honda while British Superbike champion Bradley Ray claimed the final point in 15th on the Motoxracing Yamaha.

On Saturday, Bautista won the opener by 8.8s from Razgatlioglu, who passed Rea at the start of the last lap to secure second place.

In the Superpole race, Bautista was 2.1s ahead of Razgatlioglu at the finish after 10 laps, with the Turkish rider’s Pata Yamaha team-mate, Andrea Locatelli, in third after Rea’s crash.

The fifth round of the championship takes place at Misano in Italy from June 2-4.