Race 1
Rea occupied pole position for his ‘home’ United Kingdom round, his first Superpole triumph for more than a year raising hopes of the 36-year-old Northern Irishman achieving a first win of the 2023 championship season.
The six-time World Superbike champion had to settle for his 250th podium in the competition, however, as the pace set by Bautista and Yamaha-mounted Razgatlioglu proved too hot.
Bautista led away from the line but eventual runner-up Toprak Razgatlioglu and Rea both enjoyed spells at the front as a thrilling race played out.
The Spanish Aruba Ducati rider pulled away in the latter stages for his 15th victory from 16 races this season.
Race 2
Spain’s Alvaro Bautista took a step towards a second World Superbike title after winning the second feature race at Donington Park.
Ducati rider Bautista overtook long-time leader Toprak Razgatlioglu with nine laps to go and powered clear to win.
Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea was fifth on his Kawasaki as Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci completed the podium. Bautista’s lead stands at 93 points with six rounds remaining.
Rea is now without a race success since the last round of the 2022 series at Phillip Island in Australia.
The race was restarted following a multi-rider crash on the first lap which saw Tom Sykes, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Loris Baz involved in an accident coming out of Coppice corner.
British rider Sykes suffered a high side coming out of Coppice and Rinaldi and Baz were caught up in the crash as all three riders slid onto the grass. After a lengthy delay all three riders were reported as conscious but they sat out the restart.
