Toprak Razgatlioglu has secured victory in the shortened Saturday race at the World Superbike Championship in Portimao – Jonathan Rea loses more points
Yamaha factory rider Toprak Razgatlioglu has won the first race at the World Superbike Championship in Portimao. The Superbike World Champion beat World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) and record champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) (see race result). Razgatlioglu was thus able to make up five points on Bautista. Rea lost another four points to the World Championship leader (to the overall standings).
Jonathan Rea started the first race from pole. The Briton was on the front row of the grid alongside Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki). Alvaro Bautista started the race from fourth on the grid. Philipp Öttl (GoEleven-Ducati) was on P12, Marvin Fritz (YART-Yamaha) on P23.
Due to the heavy crash in the Supersport 300 race, the first WSBK race could not be started as planned at 15:00 (CEST). As the rescue helicopter did not return in time, the race did not start until 16:15. The race distance was shortened to 14 laps.
Jonathan Rea in the lead after the start
At the start, Rea held his ground at the front. Razgatlioglu lined up in second position but was overtaken by Lowes on the first lap. Bautista was fifth behind fellow Ducati rider Axel Bassani. Philipp Öttl lost a lot of positions in the first lap and was only in 20th position, while Marvin Fritz was able to fight his way up to 18th position.
Rea set the pace at the front. Razgatlioglu struggled to follow the 65 Kawasaki. Lowes lost two positions to Ducati riders Bassani and Bautista on the second lap. Rea pulled away slightly after two laps with a 1’40.604 lap, but Razgatlioglu countered with a 1’40.328 time on lap three.
Toprak Razgatlioglu aggressively takes on Jonathan Rea
After a slow start, Razgatlioglu picked up the pace and was within striking distance of Rea. But Bassani was also able to keep up. At the start of the sixth lap, Razgatlioglu aggressively pushed Rea in turn 1, who had to straighten up his bike. Rea lost momentum and was suddenly 0.5 seconds behind Razgatlioglu.
How it looked for all involved parties PRTWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/qsNr7HoSmf
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 8, 2022
Razgatlioglu, however, could not shake off his pursuers. The top 5 moved to within 1.5 seconds of each other just before the race halfway point. Bautista launched an attack against Bassani at the beginning of lap eight, but the Italian counterattacked. Bautista had to fight hard to prevail in the Ducati-internal duel. That played into the hands of Razgatlioglu and Rea, who were able to pull away a little.
Alvaro Bautista challenges Jonathan Rea
Bautista was the fastest rider at the start of the final third of the race and fought his way towards the leading duo with good lap times. Razgatlioglu controlled the lead, but behind him a duel developed between Rea and Bautista. On the home straight, Bautista passed without much trouble, but braked in turn 1 four laps from the end of the race and lost second position back to Rea.
Bautista takes second but he goes deep at Turn 1!PRTWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/OBmpXDcI0q
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 8, 2022
Razgatlioglu’s lead grew to over 1.2 seconds. Bautista pushed past Rea again with three laps to go and maintained the position in the following corners. Rea had no answer and had to be satisfied with third place.
Toprak Razgatlioglu can only make up five points
The order of the top 3 did not change in the final laps. Razgatlioglu took the win in commanding fashion, finishing ahead of Bautista and Rea. There was a hard fight for fourth place. Lowes was faster than Bassani, but the Italian defended himself with all his might. Bassani was the best non-factory rider in fourth place. Lowes rounded out the top 5.
Sixth place went to Yamaha factory rider Andrea Locatelli. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ducati) and Xavi Vierge (Honda) followed in seventh and eighth. Loris Baz (Bonovo) was the best BMW rider in ninth. Brand colleague Scott Redding crashed on the last lap and was classified 18th.
Philipp Öttl fought his way up to twelfth position after a difficult first lap and collected important points for the championship. Öttl was 21.6 seconds behind at the finish. Fellow countryman Marvin Fritz slipped back to 21st position, 39.0 seconds behind after 14 laps.
