ning Ducati 1-2-3. Redding and
podium debutant Bassani were
joined by Michael Ruben Rinaldi
(Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Sunday morning's Tissot-Super-
pole race started dry and sunny,
but it did not have a long duration.
On lap four, as Chaz Davies (Team
GoEleven Ducati) and Lucas
Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Rac-
ing) collided, putting Chaz on his
way to hospital with broken ribs,
although no fractures were evident
according to his team.
The BMW duo of Tom Sykes
(BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
and Michael van der Mark (BMW
Motorrad WorldSBK Team) were
early fallers in the neutralized 'race'
as the Dutchman lost the front and
forced Sykes off track at speed,
with Sykes eventually falling. Both
were ruled out of the restart, which
featured only 19 riders.
A five-lap sprint was always go-
ing to be intense, reduced from
10 laps due to the delay.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Rac-
ing Team) and Andrea Locatelli
(Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
touched on lap one and Locatelli
went down. Kohta Nozane (GRT
Yamaha) also fell. Scott Redding
(Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was
pushed wide, bemoaning the
attitude of some other riders. He
finished 15th, for one point.
Up front Rea won from Razgatlio-
glu by just 0.211 seconds.
Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda)
scored a podium that looked a
difficult thing for the Honda to do
this year and was even in second
place for a while.
Rea's 10th race win of 2021
saw him move another three
points clear of Razgatlioglu.
What could the tall Turkish rider
do in the final full 20-lap race?
That was a trick question as there
was no 20-lap race, because,
once again, there was a nasty
incident or two in the attempted
running of the final race.
Mahias was involved again, as
Sykes suffered a head injury, and
he was knocked out for a time,
lying prone at the trackside as the
red flags came out.
He was taken to hospital for
proper check-ups and was said
to be conscious but going for
further tests.
In the actual 19-lap race two,
the third of those big three
WorldSBK riders to get hurt
enough to need a hospital visit
was Lowes, who got tagged into
turn one, fell off, had his spin-
ning bike smack him in the face
and then have Lachlan Epis, with
nowhere to go, topple onto him.
Lowes had enough wrist and
hand pain to go to the hospital for
proper checks.
Back on track, Rea was unable to
stay with the pace set by race win-
ner Rinaldi and eventual champion-
ship leader again, Razgatlioglu.
The front two had a great fight
at times, but after Rinaldi picked
up some red and white barrier
tape that was blowing around the
track on his front forks, it was a
premature item of party bunting
as he won his first race since
Misano on his factory Ducati.
Razgatlioglu was second, and
a resurgent Redding third, happy
to be on the podium but not so
happy that his teammate had
won. Fourth was Bautista, fifth
Locatelli and only sixth Rea, on
a setup that was just not working
for the whole race distance.
For American Garrett Gerloff,
he finished the Catalunya round
with a DNF in race one, followed
by eighth and seventh.
"I was very happy to finish the
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 38 SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 P49
Toprak Razgatlioglu is back in the lead of the championship.
