Starting this morning’s Superpole Race 54 points behind his title rival, Razgatlıoğlu did everything within his power – and then some – to close the gap to Alvaro Bautista. The 10-lap sprint showcased some of the finest racing WorldSBK has to offer, as titans Razgatlıoğlu and six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea both took to the front in the opening laps – capitalising on Bautista’s poor qualifying position. The pair put on a show for Most’s 53,871-strong fan attendance, when Rea made vied for lead into Turn 20 at the end of Lap 6 and Razgatlıoğlu responded immediately – finishing strongly for his 37th-career victory.
Race 2 saw a return of Bautista to the front with a powerful start off the line to overhaul pole-sitter Razgatlıoğlu in the run down to Turn 1, but it wouldn’t be for long as the Turkish ace set about hunting down the Ducati using the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK’s strengths across the majority of Most’s 21 corners. By Lap 7, the #54 rider caught and passed the Spaniard – the two went toe-to-toe enjoying an intense battle for the lead, but a mistake by Bautista on Lap 15 gave Razgatlıoğlu the chance to put the hammer down and open up a 0.6-second gap until his race was cruelly ended on Lap 17.
It was a day to forget for teammate Andrea Locatelli – whose early pace in the weekend had set him up for the podium fight. An uncharacteristic mistake in the Superpole Race saw the Italian rider crash out of the opening lap on the still-drying track. The DNF put him on the back foot for Race 2, starting P10 where he found it difficult to make progress forward, unable to climb higher than seventh.
Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK retains a six-point lead in the Teams’ Championship standings from Aruba.it Racing Ducati, as the points deficit has grown in the Riders’ Championship: Razgatlıoğlu now lies 74 points behind Bautista after closing the gap to 49 points after his Superpole win, while Locatelli slips one place back to fourth behind Rea.
