A new World Supersport champion crowned in Krummenacher.
Image: Supplied.
The final race of the 2019 Motul Superbike World Championship took place under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit for the Motul Qatar Round, where Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) capped off the season with another victory.
After a season of last lap battles, new rivalries, record-shattering performances and triumphant successes, the final race of the season saw yet more phenomenal action. Rea battled hard to beat Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in a race to remember at Losail.
Powering off the line for the final time in 2019, Bautista made the most of the Ducati power to lead the field, although the Spaniard went wide and allowed Rea back ahead – the pair going to battle from there and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) later joining in the mix.
Across the line, for the final time this season, Rea was 2.978s clear of Davies, who in turn got the better of Bautista for the runner-up position. Fourth was enough for Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) to secure P3 in the standings, as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) finished fifth.
Sixth to 10th places were filled on Saturday night under lights by Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven Ducati), Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK).
Earlier, in the Superpole sprint race it was Rea who won again from Bautista, with Lowes scoring the final podium placing. Razgatlioglu suffered a technical problem on the warm-up lap, unable to make the start and ending his realistic chances of the finishing third in the championship.
Image: Supplied.
In a captivating World Supersport race, Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) made it a third consecutive win at Losail whilst Randy Krummenacher (Bardahl Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) did enough to become the first Swiss WorldSSP champion.
The final chapter of the 2019 championship beckoned and it was a vital WorldSSP race, with all three championship contenders starting from the front row. Taking victory at Losail, Mahias was the winner but Krummenacher took fifth, enough to clinch the title. Completing the podium was Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Isaac Vinales (Kallio Racing).
With the championship already decided in the World Supersport 300 class, it was all for pride and glory at the final round. After mastering the constant slip-stream battle the best on the final lap, race victory went to Scott Deroue (Kawasaki Motoport) over teammate Koen Meuffels and Bruno Ieraci (Kawasaki GP Project), while Australia’s Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) took P6.
