A crash from race leader Rea allowed Razgatlioglu to storm to victory and move to the top of the standings…
To conclude a weekend full of drama at Donington Park, Race 2 delivered even more for the Prosecco DOC UK Round in the WorldSBK Championship as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) claimed a second victory of the weekend after Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashed out from the lead of the race just one lap after passing Razgatlioglu.
Rea was able to hold onto the lead of the race from his nearest rivals but found himself under pressure from Razgatlioglu in the early stages of the 23-lap race after the Turkish star once again made up positions from the start as he found himself in second place on the exit of Turn 1.
Razgatlioglu made his move on Rea on Lap 4 at the right-hander of Coppice, Turn 8, on Rea to move into the lead of the race as he looked for his second win of the weekend and to close the gap in the Championship down to Rea. Despite losing out to Razgatlioglu, Rea kept the pressure with Rea having a near-miss with the Turkish star under braking into the Foggy Esses.
Rea’s pressure paid off on Lap 10 when Razgatlioglu made a mistake at the same corner he passed Rea for the lead when he ran wide on his Yamaha YZF R1, allowing Rea back through into the lead of the race, but just a single lap later Rea found himself in the gravel at Coppice and tumbled out of the points, re-joining the race in 20th place on Lap 11; Rea finished the race in 20th.
America Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed his best result of the 2021 campaign with second place after taking advantage of Rea’s crash and working his way past Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) to move into second place, securing Yamaha’s tenth 1-2 finish in WorldSBK history, ahead of Sykes who claimed his second consecutive podium finish.
WorldSBK at Donington Park – Race 2:
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)
2. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +2.243s
3. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +4.522s
4. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +5.151s
5. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +13.315s
6. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +14.444s