WorldSBK Magny Cours Superpole Race: Razgatlıoğlu and Rea scrap for glory

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jonathan Rea went toe to toe swapping places in the Superpole Race.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu and Jonathan Rea put it all on the line today in the Superpole Race in WorldSBK, the duo swapping places multiple times in the final lap with Razgatlıoğlu emerging as the victor overtaking at Turn 15 with Rea unable to pay it back at the chicane.

Jonathan Rea got the holeshot in today’s race once again, the Kawasaki a demon off the start, unfortunately for Rea his top speed deficit is incredibly apparent with Toprak coming through once again at Turn 5 to lead the race on the opening lap, not that this was the end of the opening lap drama with Rea coming back through after Turn 5 to lead all the way through until Turn 5 on the next lap when once again Toprak came through to occupy the P1 spot.

From then on it was a case of cat and mouse with Rea closely following Razgatlıoğlu every lap, the pair very nearly colliding at Turn 5 with Rea coming in incredibly hot. From then Rea would study and analyse the Turkish title leader managing the gap of 0.5 seconds until the very last lap when Rea forced his way past at one of the many chicanes at the track, his Kawasaki proving to be slower on corner exits as Toprak stayed comfortably on Rea’s tail despite Rea being on the limit, the final overtake would come at Turn 15 for the win with Razgatlıoğlu tearing the P1 position from Rea’s hands, forcing Rea to accept P2 once again.

In third place was Alex Lowes who recovered from a crash in Race One yesterday to add some strong points to Kawasaki’s manufacturer’s title charge as he beat Andrea Locatelli who took his sixth P4 finish in seven races, the consistency of the rookie is unbelievable. Recovering from a tough race yesterday was Scott Redding in P5, the British rider finished in P12 yesterday after a crash and will be happy with today’s P5.

Michael van der Mark and Alvaro Bautista finished within the top seven to put five different manufacturers within the top seven, a great showing from the series proving how competitive it has become, just behind the BMW and Honda duo was top independent Chaz Davies with Leon Haslam and Michael Ruben Rinaldi rounding off the top 10.

Tom Sykes got yet another bad start after starting in P3, finishing the race in P12.

***UPDATE***

Following a track limits demotion from Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, Rea is the victor.

Full Results – 

Featured image – Yamaha