In Race 2 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) emerged victorious after an intense battle with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing).
The race took a surprising turn as Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) suffered a crash in Tamburello on the first lap. Razgatlioglu capitalised on Bautista’s misfortune to claim the lead, ultimately securing his first feature-length race win of 2023.
Axel Bassani finished in second position whilst Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) secured a well-deserved third place. The race also witnessed a strong performance from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) who finished in fourth place, adding valuable points to his Championship campaign. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) secured fifth place as he looks to retain his seat in the team for 2024. Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) achieved a career-best sixth-place finish.
After Race 2, Alvaro Bautista maintains his lead in the WorldSBK Championship standings with 391 points, but Toprak Razgatlioglu’s victory reduces the gap to 70 points.
P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK
“I’m very happy that this year, finally, I’ve won! I waited for this moment, so thanks to my team who did an incredible job this weekend. Every session, we improved the bike but I am also sorry for Alvaro but this is racing, and you try and do your best. It’s the first time he’s crashed. After, I made a plan and didn’t want to risk. I followed Axel and in the last three laps I passed him and took a good pace. In general, I’m very happy this weekend! It’s the first time that Yamaha have won at Imola this weekend and I love this track too. It was very hot this weekend and congratulations to everyone because of this. I think it’s been a very good weekend as everybody’s watched real racing! The Championship is not over; I am riding like before, I’m focusing just on winning.”
DNF | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“We decided to make the race shorter… and I made it even shorter! I made a mistake. I had a good start and kept a good line, but I just touched the inside white line at Turn 3. Maybe in other laps I touched it without problems but perhaps, on the first laps, the tyres were not 100%, I made a mistake. Next time, I have to be more careful. A pity because we were quite competitive this weekend. We were quite strong in Race 1 and in the Superpole Race. We had a nice battle with Toprak. we were stronger than I expected this weekend. I have to be positive, look forward and try to learn from the mistake.”
WorldSBK Race 2 Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
2. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +1.996s
3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.458s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometon WorldSBK) +6.111s
5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +11.154s
6. Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) +12.210s
WorldSBK Championship standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 391 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 321 points
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 208 points
