A victory and podiums to wrap up WSBK season

Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes set the second and third fastest times in the Superpole and made the most of their grid positions at Phillip Island to end the 2022 season on a high. After not having won since May, the six-time world champion was victorious on the first race of the weekend in Australia on a track that started out wet. But as the tarmac dried out quickly, all the riders were forced to go back to the pits to change bikes. Race 1 saw seven successive leaders. “I realised quite quickly that we couldn't finish the race on wets and that we would have to go back to the pits to change bikes," commented Rea. “The secret was to stay calm and make the change at the right moment. Thanks to the great work of the team, I lost a minimum amount of time and was able to manage the remaining laps perfectly.

Leading for five laps, Alex Lowes was one of the last to change to slicks. “Maybe I should have stopped a bit earlier but I felt good on the wets," explained the Brit. “In the end I'm glad I was also able to get on the podium.” Lowes took another third place the next day in the sprint race. And he could have almost certainly have made it three in a row if race 2 hadn't been red flagged. "Anyway, I'm happy to finish the season well," concluded the Kawasaki rider, who ends the season in sixth place overall. Jonathan Rea got back on the podium on both the remaining races, finishing second in the sprint race and third in race 2. “We did the best we could," concluded Rea, who finished the championship in third place, 99 points behind new champion Baustista and 27 points behind Razgatlioglu. “I made some mistakes this season," admitted Rea. “But Bautista was untouchable and we didn't finish too far behind Toprak who took the title last year. We need to work this winter to catch up so we can fight for the win again next year."