After a weekend full of drama at Donington Park, Race 2 delivered even more for the Prosecco DOC UK Round in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) claimed a second victory of the weekend after Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashed out from the lead of the race just one lap after passing Razgatlioglu for the lead of the race.

BATTLE FOR THE LEAD AND A RARE REA ERROR…

Rea was able to hold onto the lead of the race from his nearest rivals but found himself under pressure from Razgatlioglu in the early stages of the 23-lap race after the Turkish star once again made up positions from the start as he found himself in second place on the exit of Turn 1.

Razgatlioglu made his move on Rea on Lap 4 at the right-hander of Coppice, Turn 8, on Rea to move into the lead of the race as he looked for his second win of the weekend and to close the gap in the Championship down to Rea. Despite losing out to Razgatlioglu, Rea kept the pressure with Rea having a near-miss with the Turkish star under braking into the Foggy Esses.

Rea’s pressure paid off on Lap 10 when Razgatlioglu made a mistake at the same corner he passed Rea for the lead when he ran wide on his Yamaha YZF R1, allowing Rea back through into the lead of the race, but just a single lap later Rea found himself in the gravel at Coppice and tumbled out of the points, re-joining the race in 20th place on Lap 11; Rea finished the race in 20th.

CELEBRATING INDEPENDENCE DAY IN STYLE

America Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed his best result of the 2021 campaign with second place after taking advantage of Rea’s crash and working his way past Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) to move into second place, securing Yamaha’s tenth 1-2 finish in WorldSBK history, ahead of Sykes who claimed his second consecutive podium finish.

Sykes found himself under a lot of pressure in the latter stages of the race from Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as the British rider bounced back from a difficult weekend so far in his first home round in the Championship, missing out on a podium by less than a second.

COMPLETING THE POINTS

Dutchman Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was unable to convert a front row start into a podium finish but came home in fifth place after a strong weekend for the BMW outfit and their brand-new M 1000 RR machine, finishing more than a second clear of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who rounded out the top six.

Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) finished in seventh place a despite carrying a knock on his shoulder following a crash at Misano last time out, finishing two seconds clear of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in eighth place. Team HRC duo Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista rounded out the top ten with ninth and tenth respectively; Haslam had started from fourth while Bautista battled his way up the order from 16th place.

Italian rookie Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) claimed another points finish with 11th place with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) falling down the order despite a strong starting position but still secured a points finish ahead of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) and Eugene Laverty (RC Squadra Corse) who completed the points paying positions.

NOTABLE MENTIONS…

Luke Mossey (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) missed out on his second points finish of the weekend by just a few seconds behind Laverty, with Spanish rider Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), Christophe Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha) and Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) all finished ahead of Rea after his crash. Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) was the first rider to retire in the early stages of the race when he brought his BMW M 1000 RR into the pitlane.

The top six following WorldSBK Race 2, full results here:

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)
2. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +2.243s
3. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +4.522s
4. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +5.151s
5. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +13.315s
6. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +14.444s