WSBK UK Round: Razgatlioglu takes title lead as Rea crashes on Sunday

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) took victory in both long races at Donington Park and claimed the championship lead. Although Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) won the sprint race, a crash on Sunday afternoon cost the title holder dearly.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) secured a podium finish in his 200^th WorldSBK start on Saturday while Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) stood on the rostrum despite never having raced at Donington. The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team had a great weekend with a double-podium through Tom Sykes and Michael van der Mark on Sunday morning and the former also finishing third in Race 2.

Rea lost the championship lead to Razgatlioglu who now heads the standings by two points. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) sits 66 points adrift after another difficult weekend and holds a narrow three points advantage over Lowes.

RACE 1

Rea took the holeshot from pole ahead of the two factory BMWs and immediately put some bike lengths in between them. Starting from 13^th, Razgatlioglu delivered an incredible opening lap – the Yamaha rider shot into fifth at the lights and picked up his way into second.

All riders ran slick tyres on the drying track and carefully marshalled the remaining damp patches. A major moment for Rea on Lap 2 invited Razgatlioglu to close right in on the Kawasaki and he did not hesitate to claim the lead.

Redding’s title challenge suffered a blow on the second lap when he sat his Ducati up to avoid the curb at Hollywood, ran wide on the grass and crashed out of the race.

Rea too felt the conditions and although he just avoided a highside at Hollywood, he went wide over the grass around Craner Curves and re-joined the track in second ahead of van der Mark. While Rea comfortably broke the BMW, the gap to Razgatlioglu stayed fixed as the pair exchanged fastest laps.

Van der Mark increasingly lost grip and fell into the clutches of a four-rider group with Sykes, Lowes, Leon Haslam (Team HRC) and Gerloff. Fairings were rubbed as Gerloff and Lowes fought through and gapped the pack.

Razgatlioglu’s pace was unmatched and his advantage over Rea started to steadily increase with nine laps to go. Lowes meanwhile inherited third from Gerloff who, under pressure from the Kawasaki, crashed out at Goddards.

Despite a fuel shortage on the final lap, Razgatlioglu brought his advantage home for an unlikely win from the fifth row of the grid while Lowes secured a podium in his 200^th race. Sykes beat van der Mark to fourth while Haslam was sixth and Gerloff, who had re-joined the race, finished seventh.

SUPERPOLE RACE

Mixed conditions with a damp but drying track and ongoing spits of rain made the tyre decision tricky. Most riders opted for intermediate front and rear while Redding was one of very few to go full wet.

Rea yet again took the holeshot while Lowes picked his way past the BMWs into second and put pressure on his teammate. Razgatlioglu did not quite have the flying start he had in Race 1 but was still up to eighth at the end of the opening lap. Redding meanwhile struggled from the get-go and dropped down the order and out of contention.

Lowes looked determined all over Rea’s rear tyre, but his race came to a premature end on Lap 2 when he clipped the curb at the Old Hairpin and lost the front of his Kawasaki. Rea was left in a lonely lead, but the battle heated up behind him.

Van der Mark, Sykes, Haslam and Gerloff fiercely contested the podium spots while Razgatlioglu got past Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) into sixth at Redgate going into the penultimate lap.

Rea comfortably managed his lead and claimed the win ahead of Sykes and van der Mark who secured a double-podium for BMW. Haslam and Gerloff crossed the line alongside each other, but the Honda just had the edge while Razgatlioglu had to be content with sixth.

RACE 2

With the track completely dry, slicks were the natural tyre choice. Interestingly, all riders opted for the X front and rear, including the Kawasakis who historically tend to favour the SC0.

Rea led from pole into Redgate while Razgatlioglu shot around the outside to slot into second. Sykes challenged for the position, but the Yamaha rider prevailed and closed in on Rea. Haslam beat Gerloff to fourth with van der Mark shadowing the pair.

Razgatlioglu put pressure on Rea and hit the front with a tight manoeuvre through Coppice on Lap 4. Sykes had lost ground to the leading duo but held an advantage over Gerloff in fourth who had gapped the pack. Redding finally found rhythm on the Ducati and claimed position after position to run fifth with 17 laps remaining.

Rea shadowed the Yamaha ahead of him and capitalised on a mistake from Razgatlioglu who went sideways into Coppice and ran slightly wide on Lap 10. Behind them, Gerloff claimed Sykes for third.

An uncharacteristic mistake took Rea out of contention on Lap 11 when he lost the front going off the gas and over the bump at Coppice and had to pick his Kawasaki out of the gravel. He re-joined the race but was running last with a significant disadvantage.

Left in the lead, Razgatlioglu did not panic and held Gerloff at distance with metronomic pace. Sykes was still running in the final podium spot but Redding edged in on him ever closer in the final stages of the race.

Unfazed out front, Razgatlioglu cruised towards his second win of the weekend ahead of Gerloff who secured a podium at his Donington debut. Redding dropped wide at the Melbourne Hairpin on the final lap, costing him the chance to challenge Sykes for the podium.