Record & then a fall for Jonny

CHAMPIONSHIP leader Jonathan Rea crashed out in the Czech Republic yesterday – 24 hours after breaking the record for World Superbikes wins.

English rider Alex Lowes claimed his maiden victory in race two at the Masaryk Circuit in Brno.

Lowes, 27, took the chequered flag ahead of Yamaha team-mate Michael van der Mark.

Fellow Brit Chaz Davies completed the podium, which reduced the lead of Northern Ireland’s Rea down to 65 points at the top of the championship standings.

On Saturday, 31-year-old Rea had surpassed the mark set by Carl Fogarty between 1988-2000 as he returned to winning ways in race one after a blank weekend at Donington two weeks ago.

However, hopes of a double ended when the Ballyclare man crashed out following a collision with Kawasaki team-mate Tom Sykes at turn 12 during the third lap, which forced a first retirement of the season. Lowes, who was

fifth on Saturday, made the most of errors from the likes of Ducati’s Marco Melandri and then Sykes to go on and secure a first World Superbikes win in his 118th race.

Northern Ireland’s Eugene Laverty, from Toome, finished fourth for his best result of the season.

The next round of World Superbike races is on 23-24 June at the Laguna Seca circuit in California.