51,831 fans attended the Prosecco DOC UK Round to witness Razgatlioglu's three victories
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
Razgatlioglu took his first WorldSBK hat-trick, winning by 1.102s over Bautista.
It was also the first triple for Yamaha in the category who have now a total of 99 wins in WorldSBK.
He remains third in the standings but has reduced his gap to 43 points to the leader.
“This year, we did not have a good start but, finally, this weekend, we got three victories. This was normally my dream. I am really happy this weekend. Now I am feeling like last year’s Toprak, because my riding style is like last year’s style. The Superpole Race was very fast, because everybody was pushing every lap. The pace was unbelievable. I saw many 1’26s, this is an incredible lap time. Race 2 was very important for me because a full race is always very hard, and Jonny was faster. I know Jonny was following me, I was waiting and kept the rear tyre. I saw my board said 0.3 and after I was pushing again.”
P2 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati)
After yesterday’s DNF, Bautista took second place in Race 2
Bautista’s second place gave him his 40th WorldSBK podium.
The Spanish rider maintains his Championship lead with a total of 246 points.
" Today has been more positive than yesterday. We knew this track would be difficult for the Ducati. I didn't expect today's performance. Yesterday was a pity but today I changed a bit the line in that corner and I felt more comfortable. Today I struggled a little bit with right wrist pain. I'm happy and I'll try to maintain my performance, to keep enjoying the bike. And let's see what will happen in Most because I never raced there with the Ducati."
P3 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Rea claimed third position in Race 2 finishing 2.615s behind Razgatlioglu.
With three podium places claimed at Donington Park, he reduced the gap to Bautista in the Championship standings to 17 points.
“I felt really good for half of the race. Everything was working really well and I was able to understand where I was good, where I had to improve. There were some areas where I was better. I really overcooked the front brake. I was right behind Toprak in the slipstream, always. I went into Melbourne loop two times, and the lever was coming back to the bar. I used all my power to not hit Toprak sometimes. So I had to take some time to fix my rhythm. And then Alvaro was coming with a really strong rhythm. Unfortunately he came through. It was all I could do, just keep my rhythm. We made some good changes from yesterday to today. We’re learning a lot with the bike in hot conditions. We can be happy, especially after Misano. I’ve felt a lot closer here. It’s encouraging.”
P4 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
Rinaldi finished in 4th, his best result of the weekend, 2.4s off the podium.
He remains fifth in the Championship standings with 119 points and is now only 5 points behind Locatelli.
"I'm really happy about the weekend. The team worked in a good way. Today I tried my best to get the podium. In the last lap, when I saw Rea I though ‘ok, I try’ but then the tyre was dropping and I didn't have much energy left. I almost crashed so I decided that fourth would be fine for Donington. I gave my 120% for the race. It was the toughest race of my career because I've never pushed like that. I'm really happy about this result."
P5 – Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
Redding concluded a strong weekend with fifth place in Race 2.
He had claimed his first ever podium with BMW in the Tissot Superpole Race.
“That was a hard race! I got a good start; we knew we’d been working on that area yesterday. Today we got the start. It makes it a bit easier. I felt like I had a little bit more pace, but I thought they’re just controlling the race a little bit. I tried to save the tyre. The last few laps, I saw Alex and Alvaro behind. I thought ‘keep my head down, no mistakes’. Alex came and I thought ‘not like yesterday!’. Made it on the podium. Slowly we’re getting there.”
P6 – Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Lowes concluded his home round with a sixth place in Race 2.
After a podium in Race 1, Lowes finished with three top-six finishes at his home round
"I was actually a similar distance off the winner as I was yesterday. I struggled a bit more on the front today. The lap time dropped a bit. I was still able to break well and get the bike to the apex. This afternoon the wind was a little bit stronger and the temperature even a bit higher than yesterday. I was having some big slide on the front and it couldn't feel comfortable in the second part of the race. But it's been a good weekend and we know the areas where we need to improve in hot conditions."
To note:
Honda’s lead rider was Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) in tenth place. He remains the only rider to have scored top ten finishes in every race this season.
The Prosecco DOC Czech Round will take place from the 29th to 31st of July at the Autodrom Most.
WorldSBK Results Race 2
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.102s
3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.615s
4. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +5.067s
5. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +8.256s
6. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +10.114s
Championship standings (after Race 2 - Round 5)
1. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) Ducati (246 points)
2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (229 points)
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (203 points)
WorldSBK Results Tissot Superpole Race
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +1.089s
3. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +3.889s
Aegerter battles Baldassarri and Bulega to claim his ninth consecutive win
The Swiss rider increased his Championship lead to 64 points
Race 2 highlights - WorldSSP
P1 – Dominique Aegerter (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
Aegerter dropped to as low as fourth on Lap 8 but was able to battle his way back to victory.
A late-race move on Baldassarri allowed him to take the win by just 1.063s
He has won nine consecutive wins, equaling Locatelli’s record from 2020.
His fourth consecutive double win allowed him to increase his Championship lead to 64 points.
"Today's race was exciting. The 19 laps were competitive, we had a great battle between different manufacturers. We could see that they are faster in some parts of the track. So, it was not so easy to overtake, especially Caricasulo and Bulega. With Baldassarri, I already knew where he was faster from Race 1. I waited for a good moment to go in front to make a clean pass. And we won again. It's very nice to win nine races in a row. It's like a dream. It's not easy to achieve this result. We're racing at different tracks, with different conditions so everything need to be perfect."
P2 – Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team)
Despite a solid recovery to take the lead of the race, Baldassarri was denied victory by Aegerter who overtook him on Lap 17.
The Italian claimed his seventh consecutive WorldSSP podium.
He stands in second place in the Championship standings with 161 points.
"It wasn't an easy race. We enjoyed a lot. I was fighting and giving my maximum. Today we were fast but Aegerter was more in control. I think that he has more the situation in control, and we're missing that a bit. I was hoping he would loose a bit of time with the Ducatis behind to try to escape. But when I passed Bulega he also overtook him and then he was straight behind me. We were very fast in the last two laps and I was on the limit. In the end, second position is a good result."
P3– Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
Starting from the front row, Bulega was leading Race 2 before Aegerter overtook on Lap 16.
He finished in third place claiming his sixth WorldSSP podium.
He is third in the standings with 120 points.
"Unfortunately, yesterday I made a stupid mistake and I crashed. But in the end, today we recovered some points. Today my bike was working really well. Until they overtook, I thought I could win. At the beginning of the race, my feeling was good because I started from second place on the grid, and then I overtook Aegerter. I was leading the race until three laps to go. But in the end, we had a good weekend."
Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) had been challenging for the podium but crossed the finish line in fourth. He claimed his best result since his switch to Ducati for 2022. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) was fifth, followed by Race 1 podium finisher Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP).
To note:
Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) retired from Race 2 on the opening lap after contact with Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) at Turn 1, with van Straalen able to continue in the lead group, although the Dutchman crashed out at Turn 11 and retired from the race.
WorldSSP Results Race 2
1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +1.063s
3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +3.719s
4. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +6.100s
5. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) +8.686s
6. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) +9.135s
Championship standings (after Race 2 - Round 5)
1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (245 points)
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) Yamaha (181 points)
3. Nicolo Bulega (ITA) Ducati (120 points)
DORNA WorldSBK