Jonathan Rea feels claiming a pair of wins at Misano was vital for his World Superbike campaign as he eats into Alvaro Bautista’s championship lead.

The Kawasaki rider backed up his race one win in the wet with a nervy victory in the second full-distance race, just hours after crashing in the Superpole race and remounting to fifth place.

With title rival Bautista crashing out while leading the final race, having taken victory in the Superpole race, Rea says he was aware how vital bagging wins and points became with focus on the title fight with just 16 points now splitting him from the Spanish rider.

“Winning two races at Misano was good for us, especially the two important races,” Rea said. “Unfortunately in the Superpole Race today I made a big mistake in turn ten, when I lost the front. But I restarted to finish fifth which was all-important for the weekend.

“Race Two today was a tough one because the temperature was hot. I was very unsure of the pace. I felt like it was slow but I did not want to push any faster. I saw Alvaro go down very early in the race and the conditions out there were very tough, especially for the front tyre.

“The rear was just not digging in and going forward, it was just spinning so much – but we won, which was the main thing.

“It was a super-nice day for Kawasaki because we put three bikes on the Race Two podium. Team Suzuka! Donington next and we will go to every track with an open mentality.”

Rea heads to home territory next at Donington Park looking to continue to close the points deficit on Bautista.