In a WorldSBK “first”, Razgatlıoğlu controlled the race from start to finish and became the first rider in the championship to win a race on his birthday. The superb victory came after the team’s Turkish ace dominated Free Practice 1, 2 and 3 with the fastest lap time in every session until he was pipped at the post for pole position by Scott Redding in Superpole. Starting from P2 on the grid was no handicap in this afternoon’s race, which saw Razgatlıoğlu net an extra five points to extend his championship lead over main rival Jonathan Rea to 29 points, who finished more than five seconds adrift in second place.
On the other side of the pit box, and sharing the exact same birthday of 16 October 1996, Locatelli had a more challenging day as he continued to come to grips with the conditions on track in San Juan. From a solid sixth place in qualifying, “Loka” made a good start to run with the front group of riders in the opening laps and stay within striking distance of the podium positions. But as the race developed, he found it increasingly difficult to manage the drop in grip, finally salvaging valuable points in P8 to count towards the rookie Italian’s fight for fourth in the overall championship.
The Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK team will wrap up its Argentine adventure tomorrow but not before Warm-Up from 10:00-10:15 local time (UTC-3), the 10-lap Superpole Race at 12:00 and 21-lap, full points-paying Race 2 at 15:00.
For Race 1 results, click here.
