Toprak Razgatlioglu aims for the WorldSBK title after Donington treble

Toprak Razgatlioglu improved his chances of retaining his World Superbike championship by winning the final race of the weekend at Donington Park.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, the reigning WorldSBK champion, dominated race two at Donington Park in yet another merciless display of speed, while Alvaro Bautista recovered from his crash in race one to take the final podium spot for the weekend.

The reigning world champion had another flawless start as he led into turn one in an attempt to achieve his first official treble. Razgatlioglu won all three races at Magny-Cours in 2021 before ultimately losing the Superpole race win owing to breaching track limits.

With the advantage of starting from the front after winning the Superpole race, Yamaha driver Razgatlioglu was unstoppable as he raced to a fourth victory in as many races on Sunday. He led all 23 of the laps.

Jonathan Rea finished third, little over a second behind the winner and leader in points, Alvaro Bautista.

The Kawasaki rider Rea presented Razgatlioglu with the largest obstacle in the early going of the race, staying close to his rival for the 2021 championship until around halfway through the race.

Rea was able to edge Razgatlioglu out of the way going through the Fogarty Esses on laps 6 and 9, respectively, but on both occasions he was overtaken as he entered the Melbourne hairpin.

After surviving the storm, Razgatlioglu was able to establish a half-second lead by lap 13 that he was able to increase to over a second over the course of the next three laps as Rea’s speed slowed.

Having started the race in third place, Ducati rider Bautista slowly caught up to Rea and, on lap 17, made a move for second place as they approached the Melbourne hairpin.

Rinaldi, who appeared to have a very strong late race pace like Bautista, was closing in on the Kawasaki rider. The Ducati rider  made every effort to close the deficit, but Rea ultimately managed to hold onto third place as Razgatlioglu finished off his maiden WorldSBK treble.

As a result, Bautista, whose lead in the standings had been reduced to 13 points before the race, now has a 17-point advantage over his adversary heading into this month’s sixth round of the season at Most in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, Razgatlioglu’s first triple victory in his professional career moves him 43 points closer to the top of the riders’ rankings.

The second Ducati of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who overtook Scott Redding’s BMW to grab the position at mid-distance, finished fourth.

With the help of a rebuilt swingarm, Redding was able to finish the weekend in fifth place, easily ahead of Alex Lowes riding the second Kawasaki. This was by far Redding’s most convincing weekend while riding a BMW.

Top privateer Axel Bassani finished seventh on his Motocorsa Ducati after passing Andrea Locatelli on the second Yamaha, while in a close battle for ninth position, Loris Baz (Bonovo BMW) defeated Iker Lecuona (Honda).

Despite passing Philipp Oettl’s Go Eleven Ducati in the late stages, Garrett Gerloff finished a dismal 11th on his GRT Yamaha at the same track where he won the podium at this time last year.

BSB champion Tarran Mackenzie was demoted five places on the grid for hitting the back of Xavi Vierge in the Superpole race, finished 15th, while the other wildcard in the field, Peter Hickman (FHO BMW), made the finish in 19th.

2022 WORLD SUPERBIKE, DONINGTON PARK – RACE 2 RESULTS