Race 1
Michael Ruben Rinaldi won after series leader Alvaro Bautista crashed twice. Spaniard Bautista looked set for his 20th win of the season as he held a big lead before sliding off on lap six.
That left Rea leading from Toprak Razgatlioglu but they were soon joined by Rinaldi who moved ahead on lap 15. Razgatlioglu held off Rea for second, with Bautista crashing on the last lap as he attempted to get into the points.
Rinaldi’s win was the first time since 2021 that a rider apart from Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Rea had earned a victory in the championship.
Race 2
Alvaro Bautista won to extend his championship lead to 47 points. After beating Rea in an earlier sprint race thriller, defending champion Bautista earned a runaway race two win.
In the earlier sprint race, Bautista passed Rea on the final corner after a thrilling three-way battle with Razgatlioglu as the Spaniard came from third on the last lap to take victory.
Bautista’s two crashes on Saturday meant his previous 57-point lead over Razgatlioglu was reduced to 37 points, but the Spaniard’s double on Sunday was a fine recovery and puts him in a strong position to retain the title going into the remaining rounds in Portimao next weekend and Jerez in late October.
Toprak Razgatlioglu was second in race two, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi third.
