Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu showcased his continuing affinity with Donington Park as he claimed his second victory of the weekend on Sunday morning.
Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea rode to an equally unchallenged second position, coming home almost three seconds clear of third-placed man Scott Redding. The BMW enjoying a race long battle with KRT’s Alex Lowes to claim his place in the Parc Fermé celebrations for the first time this season.
The Superpole sprint race prepared without Christophe Ponsson after the Frenchman was declared unfit with a shoulder injury. The front row, and Saturday’s podium finishers, lining up on the SCQ tyre with track temperatures sitting at 36℃ for the ten lap dash.
While Rea launched from pole it was Razgatlioglu who once again grabbed the holeshot as Redding got the better of Lowes for third. Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista maintaining his fifth place grid position as the opening lap played out with Aruba.it teammate Michael Rinaldi neatly behind.
The reigning champion held a near-half-second advantage as lap two completed with Rea pushing hard to reel in the R1. Lowes doing likewise on Redding for the final podium position. Further back, Andrea Locatelli battled with Iker Lecuona over seventh, Loris Baz, and Garrett Gerloff rounded out the top ten from Philipp Oettl and a recovering Xavi Vierge while Tarran Mackenzie continued his impressive wildcard form from 13th.
Redding was fading slightly as the race hit six to go, Lowes glued to his wheels as the two leaders broke away out front with Rea and Razgatlioglu now a second adrift from both each other and the battle for third.
Leon Haslam advanced the Pedercini Kawasaki to 13th as the race hit half distance, Mackenzie crashing out after a tangle with Vierge at Goddards.
Lowes was just a fraction of a second off the BMW as lap eight completed with the Ninja making it’s move round Goddards before pulling free down the straight. Redding hit back into turn one as the penultimate lap began with the pair inseparable once again as the race counted down. Bautista patiently moving into contention as he watched the fireworks ahead with the trio covered by less than a second.
The Ducati struck in the final sector of the final lap, with Lowes demoted to fifth at the flag. Razgatlioglu, Rea and Redding completed the podium in echos of 2021 with the former MotoGP rider claiming his first WorldSBK rostrum on the M 1000 RR. The reigning champion making it two unchallenged victories in a row.
