Razgatlioglu Keeps Ahead In WorldSBK
T
he WorldSBK category in
2021 is a gift of incendiary
action and off-track controversy
that just keeps on giving, week
after week, as was the case in
Portugal, October 1-3.
This time around, at a warm
and then suddenly wet Autodro-
mo Internacional do Algarve, it
was the no scores that mattered
as much as the big scores, for
both top riders, Toprak Razgatlio-
glu and Jonathan Rea.
The first propaganda win of
great note was Razgatlioglu (Pata
Yamaha) snatching a seemingly
certain Superpole win from Rea
(Kawasaki Racing Team) with a new
track best of 1:40.219, no less.
As they lined up for race one, it
looked like a three-way scrap for
the win when Rea and Razgatlio-
glu were joined by Ducati's Scott
Redding and then passed by him
as they collided and allowed the
Ducati rider through.
Losing patience with what Rea
saw as Razgatlioglu's over-the-top
passing techniques, Rea tried to
go out at the front—and lost the
front into turn 15's entry, sliding
almost all the way to the barriers.
A bashed elbow and multiple
bruises later, Rea was being
checked out by the medics as
Razgatlioglu got the taste of win-
ning in his nostrils and attacked
Redding's lead, finally easing off
to win his first WorldSBK race at
this track and Yamaha's first at
Portimao for 10 years.
With Redding second, Lo-
ris Baz (GoEleven Ducati) and
Alvaro Bautista (HRC) battled for
the final podium place. On the
final corner, Bautista fell as Rea
had done earlier at the fast turn
15. Baz swept in to take third, a
superb podium ride for someone
who has been running a different
Ducati on Dunlop tires all year
in MotoAmerica. Drafted in at
Jerez to replace the injured Chaz
Davies, he was even more back
IN
THE
WIND
P40
Toprak Razgatlioglu
leads Jonathan Rea
and Scott Redding in
race two just before he
went down the road.
PHOTOS: GOLD & GOOSE
