World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea pays tribute to Dean Berta Vinales

The 15-year-old, who is the cousin of MotoGP star Maverick Vinales, lost his life after a multi-rider incident in the opening World Supersport 300 race.

All of Saturday’s racing was cancelled as a mark of respect and the World Superbike paddock paid tribute to the youngster on Sunday.

Northern Ireland rider Rea said it was difficult to resume racing following the tragedy, with the 34-year-old finishing as the runner-up to championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu in race one.

“It would be impossible to say that race was easy after what happened yesterday, and also standing on the grid this morning paying our respects to Dean,” said Rea.

“But we will have full focus on the job and we’ll try and do the best we can in the afternoon, but all my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends right now, and his team to give them some strength in this difficult time.”

Reflecting on the race, Rea said he felt strong in the beginning as he seized the initiative and fended off an initial challenge from his Turkish rival.

“I felt quite good in the beginning, the rhythm was very fast and I just tried to maintain that, making no mistakes,” he said.

“When Toprak came past I was just struggling in a few key areas and I couldn’t fight, but I was there, waiting for a mistake or something but he did an incredible race – well done to him.”

In a tense showdown between the title rivals, Razgatlioglu dropped back following contact with Rea when the Yamaha rider attempted an ambitious pass on lap seven, but he eventually regrouped and closed the deficit to the six-time champion, making his move on lap 14 on the brakes into Turn 1.

The 24-year-old managed to open a slight gap over Rea, who was unable to respond.

Razgatlioglu went on to claim his ninth win of the season and his first victory at Jerez by 1.2s, with Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) completing the rostrum behind Rea in third.

Ahead of this afternoon’s second race (13:00 BST), Razgatlioglu has increased his advantage over Rea to six points.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) and Loris Baz (Team Go Eleven Ducati) were the top six in race one.

Eugene Laverty, filling in for Tom Sykes in the BMW Motorrad team, was 12th in his first race since round four at Donington Park.