WSBK Estoril Round: Redding wins, but Rea fights back

The anticipated championship fight between Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) heated up at the WorldSBK Estoril Round. Redding clinched victory in Race 1, but Rea fought back to win both Sunday races and pressured his opponent into a mistake that took him out of contention in Race 2.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) had the pace but lacked the fortune at Estoril and although he ended all races on the podium, he could not repeat his triumphs from the previous season. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) ended the weekend on a positive note with his first rostrum finish of the year.

The results see Rea already hold a 35 point advantage at the top of the championship standings. Only one point separates Razgatlioglu and Redding in second and third respectively while Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) has a 48 point deficit in fourth.

RACE 1

Redding took the holeshot into T1 with Razgatlioglu glued to his rear wheel. Rea dropped from pole to third and had his hands full with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who dived down the inside at T3 and claimed the position on Lap 2.

The manoeuvre allowed Redding and Razgatlioglu to break and, unwilling to let the duo escape, Rea reclaimed P3 going into the third lap. The Kawasaki rider immediately put a couple of bike-lengths between himself and Rinaldi and shadowed the leaders, the gap steady at around one second.

Redding tried to shake off Razgatlioglu, but the Turk looked comfortable and held his disadvantage at less than fife tenths to close down again in the second half of the race.

Lowes had meanwhile broken away from the pack in fifth, but Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was in pursuit and swiftly within punching distance. The battle was over before it began when Lowes lost the front and went down at T7 with 13 laps left.

Tyre life became crucial in the late stages as Rea’s SC0s looked to have more performance left in them than the softer SCXs both Redding and Razgatlioglu went into the race on. The reigning world champion gradually reeled them in and was in touch with four laps remaining.

Rea traded blows with Razgatlioglu, giving Redding just enough breathing space to take the chequered flag first, albeit by less than a second. In the fight for P2, Razgatlioglu and Rea ran down the start/finish straight side by side, 0.038 seconds deciding in favour of the Yamaha.

Off the podium, Gerloff had claimed Rinaldi with an aggressive move to take fourth. Rinaldi dropped pace but managed to come home in fifth, keeping his marque colleague Davies behind him.

SUPERPOLE RACE

Four abreast went into T1 at lights out and Rea prevailed, diving underneath them all to claim P1. His lead only lasted until the interior parabolica though where Redding took the position off him.

Razgatlioglu was on the move and made the best out of the slipstream down the start/finish straight and accelerated past both Redding and Rea from third to first. Gerloff was hot on the trio’s heels with Rinaldi just within touch in fifth.

A mistake under braking at T6 sent Redding wide on Lap 4 which allowed Rea to sweep past and Gerloff too capitalised on the Ducati rider’s mistake.

Halfway through the race, Rea had Razgatlioglu firmly in his sight and the duo contested a drag race to T1. Going into the corner side by side, Rea sat his opponent up to claim the lead. Further back, Rinaldi gradually lost ground and fell into the clutches of Lowes who was now the fastest rider on track.

While Rea gapped his pursuers and built an advantage that allowed him to claim his first win in Estoril, the fight for positions continued behind him. Redding took Gerloff out of the slipstream on Lap 8 and eyed Razgatlioglu, but the Yamaha rider’s rhythm was comfortable enough to secure runner-up. Lowes had closed in on Rinaldi, but it was too little too late and he crossed the line in sixth.

RACE 2

Drama hit before the lights went out when Razgatlioglu jumped the start and stopped again on the grid. Redding meanwhile was off to a flyer and took the lead with Rinaldi punching his way past Rea into second, relegating the Kawasaki into sixth.

Gerloff lined up in fourth, but his hunt was over at T4 on the second lap when he could not stop his bike and wiped out Rinaldi, ending both their races in the gravel. Eugene Laverty (RC Squadra Corse) inherited third but swiftly lost the position to Rea who now eyed the breakaway duo of Redding and Razgatlioglu.

Unsurprisingly, Razgatlioglu received a double long lap penalty for the jump start and took it straight away to re-join the track in sixth, just behind his teammate Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX) and ahead of Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).

While Laverty had dropped positions, Davies was up to third and Lowes was running fourth some distance behind. The Kawasaki rider, however, swiftly lost out to Razgatlioglu who claimed fourth with 13 laps still remaining, but the gap to Davies was already significant.

Out front, Rea reeled in Redding and the pair started to rub fairings with seven laps to go. The battle ended at T4 when Redding lost the front on the dusty inside line and went down in the gravel. The Brit re-joined the race and salvaged two points in 14^th.

Davies looked to get closer to Rea but eventually settled for second as the reigning world champion cruised towards his second win of the weekend. Razgatliglu inherited third and crossed the line just  ahead of Lowes and Locatelli.