The first ever MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race at the Autodrom Most will go down as an instant classic thanks to the action the 22-lap race provided, including a last-lap duel between race winner Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) at the Tissot Czech Round.

Redding took the lead on Lap 3 of the 22-lap encounter and stayed there until the penultimate corner of the final lap when Razgatlioglu came through with an overtake deep on the brakes, allowing the Turkish rider to move into the lead of the race and claim 25 vital points in the Championship. With Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashing out at Turn 1 from third place and then Turn 22 from 11^th place, Razgatlioglu closed the gap in the Championship from 37 points to just 12.

The two riders involved in the last lap overtake have delivered their verdicts on the move with contrasting views. Redding, who lost out from the overtake, believes it was a “little bit over the line” while Razgatlioglu claimed that “this is racing” with both riders making the finish line; Redding missing out on victory by just 0.040s at the line.

Reacting to the overtake, Redding said: “Overall, I’m happy with the 20 points and second position but I feel I deserved the win. The overtake from Toprak was, for me, a little bit over the line, a little bit unfair because if I was to commit to the corner, we both crash because he was stopping three or four metres later than you expect or plan. I’m a bit upset by that but that’s racing apparently, so maybe I need to be a bit more aggressive.”

Razgatlioglu used Pirelli’s SCX tyre for Race 1 at the Autodrom Most while both Redding and Rea stuck with the SC0 tyre. Razgatlioglu got off the line well to take the lead of the race at Turn 1, before dropping back to third place, behind Rea and Redding, over the next couple of laps. However, as the race progressed, Razgatlioglu’s pace improved compared to Redding with the race culminating in the penultimate corner move for victory.

The Turkish star said: “On the last lap, I tried my best because I saw that Jonny had crashed. I need good points for the Championship and I’m fighting for wins. I made a small mistake passing Redding. We go together on the outside because I tried very hard braking, with the rears sliding, and I touched him a little bit. I’m happy he’s not crashed but this is racing. Maybe there’s a little bit of touching but this is normal, I think. He’s a little bit angry, I understand that.”

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