WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu ends Bautista’s win streak

Toprak Razagtlioglu wins the Superpole Race and ends Alvaro Bautista’s win streak.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was in pole position hoping for a better result than yesterday after finishing in third. Toprak Razgatlioglu was aiming for his second win of the year. It looked like it was going to be a three-rider shootout, as Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) looked to continue his win streak.

Alvaro Bautista got the holeshot into turn one, but through Hollywood, Rea would reclaim the lead. Toprak Razgatlioglu found a way through on Rea at the Old Hairpin, taking the race lead on lap one. 

Alex Lowes  (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) sat in fourth position, lurking behind on his ZX-10RR in fourth. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was hoping for a podium today, after qualifying on the front row.

Alvaro Bautista set the fastest lap of the race in third position, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) struggling on the opening lap. Rinaldi would run into the gravel on the first lap, dropping him down to 22^nd.

Both Rea and Razgatlioglu would break the lap record, after setting a 1’26.127 on lap three in the Superpole race. The duo began to bridge a gap to Bautista, extending the gap to almost one second.

Alvaro Bautista set an incredible lap time of 1’25.896, setting a new race lap record once again.

Home hero, Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) battled for 13^th position in his first WorldSBK weekend at Donington. Ray was just a couple of places behind Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who was battling for ninth.

Two laps remained in the Superpole race with the top three riders separated by less than one second. With tension building as the gap began to close at every corner, with three manufacturers in the top three.

Toprak Razgatlioglu took the race lead with one lap remaining hoping to win his first race since Indonesia this year. The three were inseparable with less than a lap remaining and with Razgatlioglu in the lead. Rea lost second place with just corners to go, allowing Bautista to fight for the race win, as he hopes to win 12 in a row. 

Razgatlioglu stops Bautista’s win streak

At the line, it was Toprak Razgatlioglu who took the race win by 0.315 from Alvaro Bautista in second. Jonathan Rea ended the race in third, disappointed by the outcome of the race but happy with his pace.

In fourth place was Andrea Locatelli who ended the race a further four seconds behind the top men. Petrucci did not manage a podium, ending the Superpole race in fifth position, ahead of Lowes. 

Garrett Gerloff ended the race in seventh, finishing ahead of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing). Scott Redding was the second BMW, with his teammate Tom Sykes crashing out of the race. Philip Oettl (Team GoEleven) rounded out the top ten as the German rider continues to have a consistent weekend.

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Image credit: worldsbk.com