Jonathan Rea cut through an early challenge from Alvaro Bautista to take victory in the final WorldSBK race at San Juan today.
Rea rolled off the pace with a few laps to go and cruised to a five-second win over Chaz Davies, who cut through the field after a poor start, with Toprak Razgatlioglu picking up another third.
The Kawasaki man had a 1.2 second lead by lap three but when Bautista joined him, the fight started. The Ducati rider then led, only to run wide and see Rea right with him again. A hard pass by Rea into the left-hand hairpin put the green bike back ahead, with the leading bunch also containing Razgatlioglu and the onrushing Davies.
The Welsh rider passed his Turkish rival and set about the leading two at very strong pace with 12 laps to go. After passing Bautista, Rea was just too far ahead for Davies and too consistent in his fast pace to be caught.
With Razgatlioglu third, Michael van der Mark (Yamaha) also caught and passed Bautista, who had Alex Lowes with him right to the end. VDM was fourth, Bautista fifth and Lowes sixth. Bautista ran the same tyre combination as Rea and Razgatlioglu.
Davies and Lowes used the softer front while VDM used the softest rear with the same front as the front row.
Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven Ducati) had a storming ride to seventh, with local hero Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) rubbing elbows with some star names at home and finishing up eighth.
Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) was ninth and a struggling Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) tenth.
Honda's Leon Camier finished in 13th behind Michel Rinaldi and Loris Baz, while Tom Sykes retired.
