Rea Storms To Brno Win

Paul Carruthers | July 11, 2010

Just when it started to seem that Jonathan Rea and Honda had lost their way in this year’s World Superbike Championship, the man from Northern Ireland bounced back today to win his first race since doing the double in Assen back in April with a dominating performance at the Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic.

Rea led from the start and never looked back, taking the lead from World Championship points leader Max Biaggi on the opening lap and beating the Italian by some 2.5 seconds.Biaggi, meanwhile, had his hands full with Sterligarda Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow and BMW’s Ruben Xaus early on, but he was eventually able to run down Crutchlow with four laps to go, passing the Brit and beating him to the line by a second and a half. Crutchlow, meanwhile, held on for third place.Rea’s victory pushed him back up to third in the series standings over Carlos Checa, the Althea Ducati man finishing back in ninth place in the first of the two races at Brno.Biaggi, meanwhile, may have lost the race, but he continues to dominate the war, pulling a further 12 points on Leon Haslam as the Alstare Suzuki man could do no better than eighth. And even that was an improvement after qualifying 14th.Xaus, meanwhile, while giving way to Alstare Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli for fourth, managed to hold on to fifth – his best-ever finish for BMW.Ducati Xerox’s Noriyuki Haga ended up sixth with Sterilgarda Yamaha’s James Toseland seventh. Then came Haslam and Checa with Lorenzo Lanzi finishing 10th.No finishers included crasher Luca Scassa and Ducati Xerox’s Michel Fabrizio, who was inside the top 10 when forced to the pits with a mechanical problem. Home boy Jakub Smrz, Kawasaki’s Chris Vermeulen and Max Neukirchner crashed out of the race in the first corner, with Vermeulen re-injuring the knee he hurt in the opening round at Phillip Island.American Roger Lee Hayden ended up 14th on the Pedercini Kawasaki.

Race One

1.                  Jonathan Rea (Honda)

2.                  Max Biaggi (Aprilia)

3.                  Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)

4.                  Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki)

5.                  Ruben Xaus (BMW)

6.                  Noriyuki Haga (Ducati)

7.                  James Toseland (Yamaha)

8.                  Leon Haslam (Suzuki)

9.                  Carlos Checa (Ducati)

10.                  Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati)14. Roger Lee Hayden (Kawasaki)

Paul Carruthers | Editor

Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.