UK WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu completes a Donington treble after winning Race 2

Toprak Razgatlioglu maintained his remarkable form to complete a Donington treble in Race 2 at the UK WorldSBK.

BMW’s star rider Toprak Razgatlioglu enjoyed yet another run of dominance at the UK WorldSBK after completing a hat-trick of victories at Donington Park, securing pole position, race 1 win, Superpole win and eventually claimed a race 2 win by over five seconds.

The Turk made a strong start from pole and led from start to finish, also setting a record lap in race 2 just like in the preceding races over the weekend. On lap 3, Razgatlioglu lapped in 1:25.597s breaking another historic mark at Donington Park.

The race was earmarked to be a thriller as conditions were warmer by the time the World Superbike grid lined up for twenty three laps.

After lights out Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega led Razgatlioglu into turn one with Sam Lowes holding third place before an overtake from Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea.

Meanwhile, Bonovo Action BMW’s Scott Redding had a lacklusture start as he dropped to seventh place from the start, but improved to sixth after passing Dominique Aegerter on lap two as Axel Bassani suffered a brutal crash at turn four and was out of contention.

On the third lap, Razgatlioglu took the lead into the Melbourne Loop and proceeded to set a fastest lap of 1’25.597, a new lap record. Further behind, Redding continued recovering from his dismal start by passing Sam Lowes for fourth place on lap six.

By the tenth lap, the race leading BMW M 1000 RR had a lead of under three seconds from Bulega’s Ducati Panigale V4 R with Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes and Bonovo’s Scott Redding battling for third a second and a half further back.

At half race distance, Andrea Locatelli led the battle for fifth place on lap eleven, over four seconds off Redding and Lowes leading Alvaro Bautista, Danilo Petrucci, Jonathan Rea and five other bikes in a large group.

Bautista managed to find his way up the field to start lap fifteen under three and a half seconds from Redding. Meanwhile, Lowes was a further two seconds up the road, under a second and a half from second-placed Bulega.

Razgatlioglu was over four seconds in the lead as two thirds race distance was completed and later extended his lead to five seconds over Bulega on lap seventeen.

Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea fighting over sixth place over a second and a half further back as the laps ticked down, but Bautista was lapping half a second quicker than Redding with four laps left and a gap of under two seconds.

Petrucci was lapping at the same pace as Bautista, with Locatelli and Rea matching his pace in their duel. The final lap started with Razgatlioglu over seven and a half seconds in the lead, with Bulega two seconds clear of Lowes behind him.

Redding was fourth ahead of Bautista in fifth place and the last lap was a tense but predictable lap as Razgatliglu won his third race of the weekend decisively, giving BMW their second triple in World Superbike and extending his championship lead.

Danilo Petrucci was sixth, and the best on track among the independent riders, ahead of Andrea Locatelli and his teammate Jonathan Rea. Dominique Aegerter was ninth and Axel Bassani completed the top ten.

2024 UK WorldSBK Donington Park Race 2 Results