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Fate played her hand on Sunday with rain at the Lausitzring, but Jonathan Rea's victory once again let the Northern Irishman assert his advantage on the WorldSBK title fight - a day after teammate Tom Sykes closed the gap to its smallest since early in the season, crossing the line second behind an unstoppable Chaz Davies.

What the racing God's giveth, they taketh away just as quickly.

Sykes found out this lesson the hard way in Germany after crashing in the treacherous conditions on Sunday. In Race 1 on Saturday, the Yorkshireman had taken a 20 point chunk out of Jonathan Rea after the championship leader suffered, once again, from a gearbox full of false neutrals. For Rea, this was a second consecutive retirement after his summer break began early at Laguna Seca, and one that had looked very costly indeed on Saturday evening. The Northern Irishman has had a constant plague throughout the season with this issue - he even changed the configuration of his dashboard so that he could look down easily to see which gear has been selected.

When racing at the absolute limit, any small problem is magnified and when braking at the last possible moment there is no margin for error. With no engine braking, Rea sailed towards the grass until at the very last second a gear was found - causing him to be pitched over the top of the bike and out of the race.

Crew chief Pere Riba accepted that, “We have let Johnny down in this case and it shouldn't happen. However Johnny is so good at dealing with problems and looking for solutions. Most riders would scream and shout but he came back to the box and said 'we've still got a race tomorrow and need to get 25 points.' This is so important for his crew to be able to do their jobs.” That maturity and presence of mind is what has moulded the “Team 65” crew into one of the most dominant in WorldSBK history - and allowed them to bounce back in Sunday's race.

Having seen Chaz Davies claim am incredibly dominant victory in the opening race, the odds were stacked against Rea's favour in Race 2 after the Northern Irishman had struggled slightly since Friday - but a rain shower just before the start changed everything. After a delay before the race started, Rea vaulted to the front of the field from sixth on the grid and was never seen again - at one point almost 13 seconds clear.

Reeling off fast times from the offset, he opened a commanding lead as Sykes floundered. The 2013 WorldSBK champion crashed early in the race and fought back through the field to claim a handful of points, but the damage was done and he now faces an almost impossible task if he wants to win the championship. Falling 47 points behind with six races remaining means that Rea has the advantage over his teammate.

For Sykes this was a clear missed opportunity and one in which he felt factors worked against him. “In the wet a lot more can happen but racing is generally in the dry. I felt that in the wet Jonathan was thrown a lifeline because in the dry the pace of Chaz and some others was very fast. But make no mistake, in the wet he had a great feeling and used that to its full advantage.”

WorldSBK will resume in Magny-Cours in ten days time and it could very easily be wet. If it is, the spanner in the works could change the complexion of the championship once again - but for now it's very much advantage - Rea.