Aruba Ducati’s Scott Redding led a Ducati clean sweep of the opening WorldSBK race podium at Catalunya as title challenger Toprak Razgatlioglu failed to finish.
Redding came from tenth on the opening lap of a soaking clash to pass Axel Bassani - yes, really - with three laps left to run with Michael Ruben Rinaldi in third.
Jonathan Rea, who ran a dry setup with wets, took 13 points out of Razgatlioglu with fourth place.
An amazing series of events followed on from the first unwanted one, as rain re-appeared shortly before the start of the opening WorldSBK Race of the Catalunya weekend.
The full wet race was astoundingly unpredictable from the off, as early leader Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was soon joined and then overtaken by Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), but only after some full risk passes and re-passes between the championship protagonists.
With the rain action as a leveller in some regards Rookie privateer Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) got involved in fights with Razgatlioglu as they both passed Rea on lap before lap 13.
Rea seemed to be losing drive as the race wound down.
Razgatlioglu, in the 60th Anniversary Yamaha red-and-white paint scheme, looked to have the race deservedly won but his bike finally and dramatically quit on him, leaving Bassani out front for three laps.
He came with three laps of winning but the advancing Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was to come past and ease his way to a remarkable race win, as he had been outside the top ten at one stage.
A stunning Ducati 1-2-3 saw Redding and first time podium rider Bassani joined by the battling Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), for a Bologna triple that seemed impossible after a relatively tough Friday for most Ducati riders.
Rea re-took the championship lead from the luckless Razgatlioglu with his fourth place today, and he was followed home by Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who looked the likely winner until his push through the leading riders was halted as he lost rear drive in the wet. He was fifth, the consistent and combative Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) sixth.
Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) came through for seventh, from pole man Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in eighth.
Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) and Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati) rounded out the top ten places, in a race that saw Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha) the top R1 finisher in the special red and white paint scheme, as Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 12th and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) a faller in the wet on the warm-up lap.
Rea is now six points ahead in the championship, with the ten-lap Superpole race and a full Race Two still to come on Sunday.
