The battle for victory in Race 2 at Jerez went down to the wire between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Scott Redding
A familiar story to Race 1, with the same outcome but a different opponent for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) as he claimed his second MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship victory of the day at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Motul Spanish Round after a late-race battle with Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Repeating his start from Race 1, Razgatlioglu got a good start to lead into Turn 1 from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and, while Rea was able to challenge into Turn 6 on Lap 1, the Turkish star was able to hold on to extend his lead over Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who made a great start to move into podium contention and passed Rea in the opening laps of the 20-lap race.
While Razgatlioglu was able to keep his lead and briefly extend his lead, both Rinaldi and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) were closing in. On Lap 6, Rinaldi ran wide at Turn 6 which almost allowed Redding through, but Rinaldi was able to hold on to second place until Turn 13, when Redding made the move for second.
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While Redding was putting pressure on, Razgatlioglu held on until Lap 17 when Redding passed Razgatlioglu for the lead but just one lap later Razgatlioglu made a move into Turn 13 to take the lead onto the penultimate lap. Redding kept the pressure on Razgatlioglu throughout the final two laps, but the Turkish star held on to claim his second victory of the day in Jerez, and his tenth of the season while Redding claimed his 30th WorldSBK podium.
P1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
“Today, the afternoon race was not easy. We were fighting with Scott and this weekend I am a little bit sick. I tried my best again; I was fighting for the win. Another win and this year I now have 10 wins. I’m happy but we are not looking at the Championship, we are always focused on the next race. In Portimao, I will try and fight again for the win.”
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P2 Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I kind of enjoyed that really. I went into that race with a little bit more confidence than this morning and I knew if I could be there in the start, I would have potential. I think I was the fastest rider but it’s hard to pass Toprak, and racing the Yamaha with the Ducati, we have such different lines in the corners that if I get sucked into riding how he’s riding, I can’t get go fast. When I passed him, I felt like I could go but my reference was gone and then when I passed him, I felt I could go but my reference was gone, I was just focused on him the whole race. I passed and I had to find my rhythm. I just made a small mistake in braking because I know he’s going to try, it’s guaranteed he’s going to try, so you’ve got take a little bit more to try and defend against him. With the Yamaha, you saw how much he could turn back compared to me. I’m happy, I didn’t expect to get two podiums today. I was hoping for a top five. To get that was really good and happy to be battling.”
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P3 Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC)
“I’m really happy, especially because I’m getting better and better with the bike. In the morning race I struggled a little bit because when the grip is high, the bike is more aggressive and is quite difficult to use. For sure, you go faster but always struggling and fighting more with the bike. In the afternoon, my energy was not too high, so I tried to keep and conserve some energy for the whole race. I did a good start, I tried to not make mistakes at the beginning and there was a gap to the front riders. About mid-race, I started to feel a bit better physically and with the bike. I saw the gap was staying so I just tried to concentrate. I was catching the other riders. I felt I had a couple of tenths more per lap, so I tried to overtake them. I did it and in the end, another podium two rounds in a row. It’s very positive.”
WorldSBK Results Race 1
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +1.225s
3. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.791s
WorldSBK Results Race 2
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.113s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +4.247s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +5.172s
5. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +6.339s
6. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +7.780s
Championship Standings (after Race 2, Round 10)
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (449 points)
2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (429 points)
3. Scott Redding (GBR) Ducati (375 points)
