The 2020 World Superbike season began with a spectacular race at the Phillip Island circuit (Australia) as Scott Redding took his first podium with Aruba.it Racing – Ducati while Chaz Davies made a great comeback by finishing eighth on day one. New Kawasaki Racing Team rider Alex Lowes finished an often-dramatic 22-lap opening WorldSBK race at Phillip Island in a battling second place, missing out on a win by just a slender 0.007 seconds. After a lap one collision with another rider KRT rider Jonathan Rea was forced off track on lap one and in his subsequent efforts to pass riders he was to fall at high speed and no score.
Thanks to third place in the Superpole Race, Scott Redding secured a front row place in Race 2. The start for the British rider, however, was not the best but Scott did good to stay focused and on lap 6 he attacked Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) to regain the third position. Despite the high consumption of the front tire, Scott stayed with the leading group and won a duel with Van Der Mark (Yamaha) to take the podium that allows him to go to the next race with second place in the Superbike World Championship standings. Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes each scored a close race victory on the second day with Rea winning the ten-lap Tissot-Superpole race and Lowes the full distance final contest.
The final race of the weekend, over 22-laps, featured up to nine riders in the leading group, even at half race distance, but it was Lowes and Rea who made the decisive moves to go 1-2 in warm and dry conditions. Lowes was just 0.037 seconds ahead of Rea across the line, with Scott Redding 0.849 seconds behind Alex.
WSBK Championship Standings After Round 1
- P 1 – A. Lowes (Kawasaki)- 51
- P 2 – S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)- 39
- P 3 – T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)- 34
- P 4 – J. Rea (Kawasaki)- 32
- P 5 – M. Van Der Mark (Yamaha)- 31
- P 6 – A. Bautista (Honda)- 20
- P 8 – C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)- 19
