The final MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race of the Prosecco DOC Czech Round was another incredible affair at the Autodrom Most, with reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claiming victory after a titanic battle with his title rivals. The battle raged on from the start until the final few laps of the race as Razgatlioglu claimed his fifth win in the last six races.

A FIGHT TO BE REMEMBERED: Razgatlioglu, Bautista and Rea duel it out

Razgatlioglu was able to get the jump into Turn 1 at the start of the race but was always under pressure from both Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). On Lap 7, Rea made a move at Turn 1 on Razgatlioglu to move into the lead of the race but Razgatlioglu at the same corner a lap later. On Lap 11, Bautista attempted to pass both Razgatlioglu and Rea into Turn 1, with Rea coming out ahead of Bautista in second and Razgatlioglu in third.

Two laps later and Bautista utilised his straight-line speed to pass Rea into Turn 1, while Razgatlioglu made his move on Rea on Lap 15 at Turn 1 for second place. Soon after, he was on the back of Bautista and, on Lap 16, made his move for the lead at Turn 20 for first place. From there, Razgatlioglu had to defend into Turn 1 on a couple of occasions but he was able to pull out a gap over Bautista and Rea to take his 24^th win in WorldSBK and the sixth of the season. Bautista came home in second place to take his 16^th podium of the season and the 43^rd of his career; while it was also Spain’s 160^th in WorldSBK. Rea now has 230 podiums to his name, which is exactly 100 more than Troy Corser who lies second in the all-time list.

REDDING VS BASSANI FOR FOURTH: an incredible fight

Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made it five top-six finishes in the last six races as he finished in fourth place after a thrilling battle with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in the opening two-thirds of the race. Bassani made a stunning start to immediately fight for the podium places but dropped back to fourth place, before running wide on Lap 5 which allowed Redding through. Bassani was able to respond quite soon after that move but Redding re-passed him at Turn 1 on Lap 10 to demote the Italian into fifth; Bassani claimed three five place finishes at the Autodrom Most.

COMPLETING THE TOP TEN: best results in the top ten…

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claimed sixth place after taking advantage of Garrett Gerloff’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) late technical issue, after the American had passed him earlier on in the race. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) claimed seven place, his best result since he finished fourth in the Tissot Superpole Race at Misano, while Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) finished eighth. That is the German’s best result since he took seventh place in the Superpole Race at Assen.

It was Lucas Mahias’ (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) best finish of the 2022 season with his second appearance in the top ten, while Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) rounded out the top ten. It is Bernardi’s first top ten result since he moved into WorldSBK at the start of the 2022 season.

FINISHING IN THE POINTS: rounding out Most with points

Italian rider Roberto Tamburni (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) equalled his best result of the season with 11^th place, ahead of Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team). Syahrin claimed the best result of his WorldSBK career with 12^th place and it was a double points-scoring race for the MIE Racing Honda Team with Leandro Mercado in 15^th; Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Peter Hickman (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) separating the two MIE Honda teammates in 13^th and 14^th.

TO NOTE: housekeeping from Race 2

Czech rider Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) bounced back from a Superpole Race crash to finish in 16^th place in front of his home fans, equalling his best result in WorldSBK, with Ryan Vickers (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) in 17^th and Gerloff in 18^th after his late technical issue.

Ahead of Race 2, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) were both declared unfit through illness and injury respectively. Wildcard Michal Prasel (Rohac & Fejta Motoracing) did not start the race. At the start of Lap 4, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) crashed out trying to pass Rea for third place at Turn 1. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) retired from the race following a Lap 5 crash at Turn 20. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) had a technical issue with two laps to go with the Spanish rookie retiring from the race, ending his streak of top-ten finishes at 17 races.

The top six following WorldSBK Race 2, full results here:

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.756s

3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.833s

4. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +9.693s

5. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +11.970s

6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +17.644s

Fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha – 1’31.705s

Championship standings

1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 298 points

2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 267

3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 260

4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 148

5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 134

6. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) 127

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