Round 9 WorldSBK Portimao, Portugal, Race 2

Victory in the earlier Superpole race, meant the reigning champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu, was on a charge, and looking for a complete set of wins across the weekend.

Lights out for race 2 and it was Toprak (Pata Yamaha) with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by Rea (Kawasaki KRT) 2nd, Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) 3rd, Lowes (Kawasaki KRT) 4th, and Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 5th.

Next lap and Rea barged through on Toprak to take over the lead, and was looking aggressive early on. Further back it was 6th Bassani (Motocorsa Duacti), 7th Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), 8th Redding (BMW Mottorad). Then drama for Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) who went down, and his race was over.

On lap 18 of 20, it was Rinaldi in 4th who set the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:40.098, and was having a much better race. Meanwhile further back it was the Honda HRC team mates of Lecuona, and Vierge in 10th, and 11th respectively, 12th Vd Mark (BMW Motorrad), 15th Gerloff (GRT Yamaha).

With 16 laps to go, drama for Bassani who went down into turn 12, losing the front end of the Ducati, and his race was over. Meanwhile at the front, the leading group of 5 riders had pulled away from the rest of the field.

With 15 laps to go, it was Rea who set the new fastest lap with a 1:40.673, and the pace was gradually getting ramped up, to be more in line with the quicker pace in race 1. Bautista held a gap of 0.5s to his team mate behind in 4th. Meanwhile Lowes was struggling with the faster pace, and was beginning to lose contact in 5th.

Next lap and, as in race 1, Toprak out brakes Rea into turn 1 with a nice looking move, cutting up the inside of the 6x champion. All three of the title contenders were swapping fastest laps, and it was the turn of Alvaro to put in the new fastest lap of a 1:40.647.

With 12 laps to go, Rea repays Toprak by making the same pass on him, as he had to Rea into turn 1, to retake the lead. Meanwhile Bautista sensed an opportunity, and came through on Toprak to move into 2nd. The Turk going from 1st to 3rd in one corner.

Next lap and Bautista was gathering momentum and passed Rea down the straight, and into turn 1 to take over the lead. Again the ZX10-RR had no response to the shear speed of the Panigale V4.

Half race distance, and Toprak again passed Rea into turn 1 to take over 2nd. Bautista meanwhile, held a gap of 0.3 out in front. Further back it was 6th Locatelli, 7th Redding, 8th Lecuona.

Next lap and keen to not allow Bautista to clear away, Toprak continued to push the pace on, setting a new fastest lap of 1:40.4.

With 7 laps to go, drama for Lecuona who went down into turn 14 losing the front end on the downhill cambered corner. He was having a decent race until then, and his race was over. Meanwhile at the front, Toprak was still shadowing Bautista, and then made a surprising move into turn 13, looking to have caught Bautista out, and cut under him to take the lead. The Spaniard did not expect that move, and Toprak was looking keen for a scrap.

Next lap and Bautista would make a reply, blasting past the R1 down the straight and into turn 1, to take over the lead. Meanwhile behind in 3rd, Rea had cooked his tyres, and was losing contact with the two riders ahead of him. It would surely come down to either the Spaniard or the Turk to claim to the win.

With 4 laps to go, Bautista had extended his lead to 0.8s, and Toprak was clearly suffering from tyre wear issues as was Rea. Meanwhile further back it was 8th Vierge, 9th Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), 10th Gerloff.

With the final 2 laps to go, Bautista had broke the advances of Toprak, and had extended the gap to 1.7s. Barring an incident, he would have the win in the bag.

Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to deny Toprak a hat trick of wins across the weekend. It was Toprak 2nd, Rea 3rd, Rinaldi 4th, Lowes 5th, Locatelli 6th, Redding 7th, Vierge 8th, Gerloff 9th, Baz 10th.

With the final 3 rounds to come, it was looking as though Bautista firmly held the advantage over his rivals.

Result top 5:

1. Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati)
2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
3. Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati)
5. Lowes (Kawasaki KRT)

Championship top 3:

1. Bautista – 448 pts
2. Razgatlioglu – 392
3. Rea – 366