WorldSBK Mandalika Race 2 Results | Rea resists Redding for rainy Mandalika win

Outgoing champion Jonathan Rea has concluded the 2021 WorldSBK Championship season with his 13th victory of the year after repelling a determined Scott Redding to double up at a rain-soaked Mandalika Circuit.

Having seen his hopes of a seventh consecutive WorldSBK title ended by Toprak Razgatlioglu in Race 1, Rea can nonetheless take some encouragement from an impressive turnaround in Indonesia on a weekend that was dominated early on by his fierce rival.

Moreover, he achieved it in treacherous conditions as the Indonesian rainy season - which had already forced Race 1 to be postponed to Sunday - once again played to form by deluging the circuit moments before lights out.

Resulting in a delay of 90mins, though rain had eased by the time the shortened 12 lap Race 2 kicked off, the conditions remained remarkably difficult.

With the leaders adopting a tentative approach through the initial turns, new champion Razgatlioglu led away initially before Rea struck to the front before the opening lap was out.

With the lack of a reference point hampering whoever was in the lead, Rea, Razgatlioglu and Redding proceeded to shuffle their positions among the top three before the group was punctured by a skirmish involving Razgatlioglu, Axel Bassani and Michael van der Mark.

Triggered by Razgatlioglu muscling back past Bassani for third place as they completed Lap 4, Bassani’s wide line on the exit invited van der Mark alongside him, leading to a momentary bump that sent Bassani’s Motocorsa Ducati off into the gravel trap. After a brief investigation, van der Mark was not penalised.

With a gap splitting the four riders down the middle, Rea and Redding consolidated their new found advantage heading into a busy final couple of laps, sparked by the Ducati man getting a better run out of the last corner to blast past at the start of the last revolution of 2021.

However, Rea latched back onto the back of the Ducati, using the Kawasaki’s more nimble chassis to force his way past at Turn 10, despite some contact. Redding attempted to respond with four corners remaining, but overshot the apex and allowed Rea past on the cutback.

A satisfying end to a watershed weekend for Rea, while he won’t take home the title crown this year, he will be encouraged by the form he takes into the winter.

Redding concluded his Ducati career with a 24th podium of the season to nail down third in the standings, while Razgatlioglu’s crowning weekend ended with yet another podium in third place following an electrifying tussle with former Yamaha team-mate van der Mark.

In the end the BMW rider would have to settle for fourth position, ahead of team-mate Tom Sykes, whose 12 years in WorldSBK come to an end with one of his best results of the year.

Bassani’s retirement meant Garrett Gerloff in sixth was confirmed as top Independent rider for 2021, while Kohta Nozane secured the best result of his rookie season in seventh place, ahead of the other factory Yamaha of Andrea Locatelli.

Isaac Vinales scored his first top ten finish right at the end of his first season in WorldSBK in ninth, ahead of Alvaro Bautista, while Chaz Davies was 11th in his final race before he begins retirement.

2021 WorldSBK Indonesia | Mandalika Circuit | Race 2 RESULTS