WSBK Czech Round: Three points in it as Razgatlioglu shines at Most

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) reinvigorated his title challenge with two wins and one runner-up at the Autodrom Most. His main rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had a tough weekend with a DNF in Race 1 and successive P3s.

Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) too featured in the Czech Republic and followed two second places up with victory in Race 2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) again impressed, finishing no lower than fourth.

Rea holds on to the championship lead, but his advantage has been cut down to just three points over Razgatlioglu. Redding still has a hard challenge to overcome but is back in contention on a 50 points deficit.

RACE 1

Razgatlioglu out-dragged polesitter Rea to the holeshot and stayed ahead of the Kawasaki. Redding slotted into third ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who had a great start from eighth.

Redding claimed the lead under braking going into Lap 3 and immediately upped the tempo. Razgatlioglu successively also had to surrender to Rea who sat him up at T10 and went to shadow the Ducati.

Incredible pace allowed Redding to gradually put breathing space between himself and the chasing duo. Rea struggled with stability and corner speed and lost an exchange of punches on Lap 8 against Razgatlioglu. The Yamaha rider was chipping away on the gap to Redding and kept taking bigger chunks out of him.

Halfway through the race Razgatlioglu’s front tyre started to fade and the chasing Kawasaki became a match. Rea’s hunt though ended prematurely with nine laps to go when his front tyre stumbled over the bumps at T1 and folded without warning.

Razgatlioglu closed in on Redding who left the door narrowly open at T14 with four laps remaining. The Yamaha rider needed no further invitation and swept past, but the start/finish straight was on the Ducati’s side and Redding accelerated back past.

The duo went into the final lap with nothing separating them. Razgatlioglu attempted an initial manoeuvre at T14 but ran wide. However, a brave, lunge at the penultimate corner paid off and Razgatlioglu just resisted Redding’s top speed across the line.

Locatelli had claimed Rinaldi and secured another podium finish in third. Rinaldi meanwhile had fallen dangerously close to the clutches of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) but just kept them behind him.

SUPERPOLE RACE

Razgatlioglu led into T1 at the lights followed by Rea and Locatelli. Redding in fourth had an immediate sense of urgency about him and accelerated past Locatelli out of the final corner and down the start/finish straight.

One lap had been enough for Razgatlioglu and Rea to grind out a gap, leaving Redding with work to do. The Ducati rider pulled away from Locatelli but lacked a tenth or so to close in on the front duo.

Rea shadowed the leading Yamaha but kept losing ground on corner speed. Halfway through the race, the pair were still running closely, but Rea had nothing to seriously trouble Razgatlioglu. Redding was chasing in third with a one second deficit to overcome.

Going into Lap 8, Razgatlioglu executed his routinely late braking at T1, causing Rea to misjudge and miss the apex. The Kawasaki ran wide and opted for the detour chicane to re-join the track just ahead of Redding.

Razgatlioglu disappeared into the distance towards his second win of the weekend, but the fight for P2 was on. Redding exploited his superior top speed to accelerate past Rea and claim him at T1 going into the final lap. The Ducati rider set his fastest lap to keep his opponent behind him and safely secured runner-up.

Locatelli took the flag in fourth ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Gerloff.

RACE 2

Razgatlioglu led from pole ahead of his teammate Locatelli. Redding slotted into third from the Kawasaki Racing Team bikes of Rea and Alex Lowes.

Redding had looks at Locatelli down the start/finish on the first two laps but could not beat the Yamaha under braking. He changed tactics on Lap 3 to make a move stick at the penultimate corner and went to hunt Razgatlioglu.

The Ducati’s speed allowed Reeding to sweep down the start/finish straight and claim P1 on the brakes on Lap 5. Razgatlioglu shadowed him and the duo gapped Locatelli and Rea who did not have the pace to match them.

Locatelli did his teammate a huge championship favour by keeping Rea behind him but eventually had to surrender. With 14 laps to go, Rea committed to a dive down the inside and the pair swept through the final sector corners side by side with the Kawasaki coming out the better.

Redding gained a few bike lengths over Razgatlioglu and gradually increased the gap to over a second with eight laps to go. Rea meanwhile was out of contention with a more than seven seconds deficit to the top.

Victory was in sight for Redding who relentlessly stretched out the gap and brought his advantage over the line. Razgatlioglu completed a positive weekend in second while Rea had to settle for third. Locatelli finished in a lonely fourth ahead of Rinaldi who beat Lowes on the final lap.