2023-07-02 13:59:36
Álvaro Bautista was not the protagonist of today’s race. The Superpole Race was dominated by an eloquent Jonathan Rea at the start, who handed over to Toprak Razgatlioglu in the last few laps, who was hard pressed behind the Northern Irishman’s Kawasaki. Bautista was the one who took advantage of this overtaking to place 2nd on the podium.
The man from Talavera copied the perfect start he made in Race 1 on Saturday. However, a couple of turns later he began to lose steam and both Rea and Razgatlioglu took the opportunity to remove the stickers from their Panigale V4 R. Once settled in 3rd place, Lowes wanted to tighten the nuts on the Spaniard to a few tenths. It was necessary to regret the fall of Loris Baz, without consequences.
A couple of laps later Lowes was already beginning to lose track of Bautista, who was still 3rd. The Kawasaki rider marked an important step compared to 4th, Petrucci. At this point in the race, Rinaldi was losing any opportunity to fight for the front, going wide at Turn 11; to the gravel, but without falling.
Not the start to the race that @michaelrinaldi_ would have wanted ???? #GBRWorldSBK ???????? pic.twitter.com/YZAaOZgdrs
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) July 2, 2023
At the halfway point in the race, Rea continued to lead ahead of Razgatlioglu, who was very close to the Northern Irishman. Meanwhile, the Turk was already taking almost a second from Bautista. Tire wear began to take its toll on the two Japanese bikes, and this is the moment when the time trial began to pulverize; he had the first two between his eyebrows.
The last two laps were heart-stopping. Razgatlioglu hit Rea with an ax, and the Turk’s job was to hold off the Northern Irishman’s attacks. The one who took advantage of this movement was Bautista, who put Rea’s bike in to steal second place on the podium. And so on until the finish line: Razgatlioglu 1st, Bautista 2nd and Rea 3rd.
Into the lead goes @toprak_tr54 ???? #GBRWorldSBK ???????? pic.twitter.com/y11F9SzhJZ
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) July 2, 2023
Lowes (6th) was stranded in that fight and Locatelli (4th) and Petrucci (5th) ended up going over him. Gerloff (7th) won the battle against Bassani (8th), and the top 10 was closed by Redding (9th) and Oettl (10th). No more Spaniards managed to enter the points zone: Lecuona was 13th and Vierge 14th, leading an uneventful race.
This leaves the general classification with Álvaro Bautista still leading, and by a lot of advantage (322 points). Razgatlioglu has cut a few points, reaching 244, and Locatelli (167) is ahead of Rea (152).
We don’t have to wait long for the next race, Race 2 at Donington Park: it will be at 17:00 Spanish time, and will close the weekend.
Also read: Kawasaki, about to lose its most important private team in Superbikes
WSBK Donington Park 2023 Superpole Race Results
#Razgatlioglu #wins #impressive #duel #ahead #Bautista #Rea