The fifth round of the 2024 World Superbike Championship takes the series to Donington Park for UK WorldSBK round. Toprak Razgatlioglu has the championship lead after winning all three races at Misano, and it was the Turkish rider who won all three races from pole position.

Race 2

Toprak Razgatlioglu completed a Donington treble in Race 2 at the UK WorldSBK, his second treble in succession after winning all three races at the Emilia-Romagna Round.

As in Race 1, Razgatlioglu made the holeshot from pole position, and never let anyone challenge him from there on, winning in the end by over five seconds.

Nicolo Bulega, as in the Superpole Race, established himself early in second place, and was as unchallenged as Razgatlioglu on his way to securing his second P2 of the day.

Alex Lowes took third place and thus making this the first weekend in his career that he has finished on the podium twice in one weekend at Donington after his Race 1 podium.

Scott Redding won a late cold war with Alvaro Bautista to prevent the Spaniard getting within striking distance in the closing stages. Bautista's late speed was better, but he lost four seconds to Redding in the beginning of the race by fighting with the likes of Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli, and Jonathan Rea, who all ended up behind him in sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively.

Dominique Aegerter was ninth, ahead of Axel Bassani who completed the top 10.

Superpole Race

Toprak Razgatlioglu took his second win from two races this weekend in the WorldSBK Superpole Race at Donington Park, beating Nicolo Bulega and Jonathan Rea.

It was Bulega who made the holeshot, but Razgatlioglu took the lead on lap three at the Melbourne Hairpin. From there, the Turkish rider extended his lead much as in Race 1, and was out of reach by half-distance.

Razgatlioglu led by over four seconds at the chequered flag, Bulega was similarly clear in second, while Jonathan Rea capitalised on a strong start and battling behind to secure his first podium finish for Yamaha.

Scott Redding beat Alex Lowes to fourth place, ahead of Alvaro Bautista who came through to sixth, while Andrea Locatelli, Sam Lowes, and Danilo Petrucci rounded out the point-scoring top nine, and Andrea Iannone was 10th.

Tarran Mackenzie was ruled out on Saturday of both Sunday races after being diagnosed with concussion following his Race 1 crash.

Race 1

Toprak Razgatlioglu took a dominant race victory in Race 1 at the WorldSBK UK Round, winning by over 10 seconds.

The race for the win was over after two laps. Razgatlioglu had made the holeshot, and his pace was far superior to everyone else. At its peak, Razgatlioglu's lead was over 11 seconds, before he rolled off the pace at the very end of the final lap.

Nicolo Bulega made his way into second place early in the race, but it was Alex Lowes who made the second step of the podium his, passing Bulega at the final turn on lap 11 before putting some distance between himself and the riders behind.

As Lowes made his way into second, Alvaro Bautista was bringing himself into podium contention. From 11th on the grid, Bautista was fifth by lap 13, passing Andrea Locatelli for that, before setting his sights on Scott Redding. Bautista's pass on Locatelli was made at the Foggy Esses, and the same place was picked for his move on Redding, who had already been through the escape road there when Bulega passed him earlier in the race, and now Bautista was sending him there again. A few laps later, Bautista passed Bulega at the same spot for third, and Redding was out with mechanical problems.

Bulega had no response to Bautista, finishing fourth as the Spaniard joined Razgatlioglu and Lowes on the podium in what was an impressive ride from the #19 on a circuit that has rarely been a favourite of his.

Behind Bulega, Jonathan Rea had his most encouraging ride of the year in fifth place, ahead of his teammate Andrea Locatelli, while strong early pace from Danilo Petrucci - who started 13th - failed to materialise into a podium challenge, the #9 finishing seventh.

Dominique Aegerter, Michael van der Mark, and Remy Gardner completed the top 10.

Superpole

Toprak Razgatlioglu stormed to pole position at Donington for the WorldSBK UK Round, over half-a-second clear of the field.

Razgatlioglu laid his marker down early, getting into the 1:24s, for the first time ever in WorldSBK history, with his first lap in Superpole. He then improved further, down to a 1:24.629, on his second run, putting him almost 0.6 seconds clear of second place by the end of the session.

The #54's nearest challenger was Nicolo Bulega, who himself was 0.2 seconds clear of Scott Redding who completed the front row - his best qualifying of 2024.

Sam Lowes finished fourth, having benefitted from the yellow flags that came out for his own crash at Coppice. They cost Danilo Petrucci his best lap, which would have put him fourth, but his second-best time left him only 13th.

Behind Lowes, Dominique Aegerter and Michael van der Mark round out the second row, ahead of Andrea Locatelli, Jonathan Rea, and Alex Lowes on row three. Remy Gardner completed the qualifying top 10, ahead of reigning champion Alvaro Bautista and Garrett Gerloff who completes row four.

FP2

Toprak Razgatlioglu repeated his session-topping form of Friday morning in FP2 at Donington, although his advantage over the field was reduced in the afternoon.

In FP1, Razgatlioglu was over 0.4 seconds ahead of Danilo Petrucci, but the Italian, who was second-fastest again in FP2, reduced that gap to just over 0.2 seconds in FP2.

It was a strong showing from the Italian, but Razgatlioglu's consistency in the low-1:26s was the real reason for the rest of the field to fear the Turkish rider this weekend.

Nicolo Bulega was third-fastest. None of the Ducati riders had looked especially comfortable during Friday at Donington, with almost all of them running wide at some point, and with crashes for Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Iannone, but both Petrucci and Bulega were able to demonstrate that, like last year, there is speed in the Panigale V4 R around the East Midlands circuit when mistakes are minimised.

Alex Lowes, on the seemingly less edgy Kawasaki, was fourth-fastest and within 0.1 seconds of the two Ducatis ahead of him, and just ahead of Scott Redding in fifth.

Bautista ended up sixth after crashing early in the session at turn one, while Andrea Locatelli was the best Yamaha in seventh. Michael Ruben Rinaldi had one of his best Fridays of the year, finishing eighth, ahead of Sam Lowes and Axel Bassani who completed the top 10.

FP1

Toprak Razgatlioglu was fastest in WorldSBK FP1 at Donington, over 0.4 seconds clear of the field.

Razgatlioglu arrived at Donington off the back of his triple win at the Emilia-Romagna Round last month, and on Friday morning only Danilo Petrucci could join him in the 1:26s. It was a late lap from Petrucci to put him second, and a similarly late one from Garrett Gerloff for the American to finish the first session in third, over 0.6 seconds adrift of Razgatlioglu.

Alex Lowes was fourth, ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Remy Gardner, fresh from his MotoGP German Grand Prix appearance last weekend. Andrea Locatelli was seventh-fastest, ahead of Nicolo Bulega and Andrea Iannone who ran off twice at Coppice, while Scott Redding completed the top 10.

Technical issues prevented Jonathan Rea from completing a timed lap for the first 25 minutes or so of the session. The #65 eventually finished down in 13th.