Superbike: Jonathan Rea triumphs in the wet in Race 2 in Portimao

The weather heavily affected Race 2 of the Portimao round, the eighth of the season, with the rain falling heavily during the Supersport race and never stopping, forcing the teams to do extra work to modify the bikes for the new weather conditions: the Management declares a "wet race" and shortens it to 18 laps.
On the grid all the drivers do not hide their concerns about the water on the track, which has huge puddles in some places due to the ups and downs.

Jonathan Rea wins ahead of the Ducatis of Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies, who also sets the fastest lap on the last lap, very happy and a little surprised at the finish line with the result obtained, which will certainly bring a bit of confidence and optimism especially to the Italian driver who this year, between his mistakes and bad luck, was not having an exceptional season.

It must be said that this result was achieved by virtue of the accident that occurred between Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli while they were chasing Rea: when braking, during the 13th lap, the Frenchman sees a small opening and dives to pass his teammate of team, which closes the door and the two then come into contact which sends Melandri to the mat.
Guintoli however manages to get back on the saddle, returning to eighth place, which will then become sixth at the end of the race.
It's a real shame because the RSV4s were really proving to have something more in the wet and the two drivers managed to maintain, unlike the others on the track, an infernal pace which allowed them to close the gap to Rea in just a few laps.
There was great disappointment in the pits for a very probable one-two that was lost due to an error that shouldn't have happened.

Behind the Ducati duo we find the Suzuki of Alex Lowes, more comfortable in the wet than teammate Eugene Laverty, who finished tenth (ninth credited due to the fact that the Bimotas do not appear in the standings), and Leon Haslam, author of a good race in which he finally manages to stay in contact with the leaders, finishing fifth.

Bad race for Tom Sykes, in obvious difficulty with a Kawasaki that was not effective in the wet, also demonstrated by the sixth place of Loris Baz, who however seemed to be in less difficulty than his teammate, and the 17th of David Salom, usually in the first places EVO.
The pace of the reigning champion has never been competitive and, overtaken by Rea at the start, he immediately began to accumulate seconds behind, until he was overtaken by practically all the top riders: a Ninja to be seen again with the wet set-up even though Tom Sykes evidently didn't feel comfortable on this track in these conditions,
From a championship perspective, the accident between the two Aprilias still allows him to return from Portimao with a 43 point advantage over Guintoli, the first of his pursuers.

Ayrton Badovini's race was extraordinary as he finished ninth on his Bimota, ahead of the EVO, managing to keep the two Superbikes of Eugene Laverty and Toni Elias behind him: by virtue of the already known rules on homologation, unfortunately he did not score points and does not appear in the ranking.
The first EVO at the finish line therefore becomes the BMW of Sylvain Barrier, who finished eleventh ahead of Sheridan Morais, Jeremy Guarnoni, Brian Starring and Riccardo Russo, author of a good race in conditions that were not easy for him who had to replace Luca Scassa on the Kawasaki at the last minute of Team Pedercini.
Colorless race instead for David Salom and Niccolò Canepa: for them only a 17th and 18th place, due to the fact that the Bimotas do not appear in the rankings.
The appointment is now already for next weekend with the round at Laguna Seca, the last stop before the summer break.

Below is the order of arrival for Race 2:

1. Jonathan Rea GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR 18 laps
2. Davide Giugliano ITA Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +6.817s
3. Chaz Davies GBR Ducati SBK 1199 Panigale R +8.676s
4. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +9.740s
5. Leon Haslam GBR PATA Honda CBR1000RR +11.289s
6. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +11.808s
7. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +14.169s
8. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +17.164s
9. Eugene Laverty IRL Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +26.406s
10. Toni Elias ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +30.168s
11. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR +41.820s (E)
12. Sheridan Morais RSA IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +47.434s (E)
13. Jeremy Guarnoni FRA MRS Kawasaki ZX-10R +50.045s (E)
14. Bryan Staring AUS IRON BRAIN Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 17.436s (E)
15. Riccardo Russo ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 24.500s (E)

16. Alessandro Andreozzi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 30.563s (E)
17. David Salom ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +1m 34.242s (E)
18. Niccolo Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199 Panigale R +1m 34.647s (E)
19. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1m 47.422s

Ayrton Badovini ITA Bimota Alstare BB3 (E) *
Christian Iddon GBR Bimota Alstare BB3 (E) *

*They do not take points and do not appear in the standings (Badovini came ninth, Iddon 12th)

Not classified:

20. Marco Melandri ITA Aprilia Racing RSV4 12 laps completed
21. Geoff May USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 7 laps completed
22. Aaron Yates USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 0 laps completed

The following did not take part in the race:

Peter Sebestyen HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR (E)
Fabien Foret FRA MAHI Kawasaki ZX-10R (E)
Claudio Corti ITA MV Agusta RC F4RR