Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu bagged his first WorldSBK win of the season this afternoon at Misano and further cut the points gap to Jonathan Rea.
Razgatlioglu had to pass both Rea and Michael Rinaldi but when he got to the front, the young Turk was able to manage the lead until the chequered flag.
With ambient air temperatures into the 30s and track temperature of almost 50C, it was hard work again for all the riders, but Razgatlioglu had more in his pocket than even double race winner Rinaldi, as he slashed Rea’s World Championship lead to 20 points, with Rea’s home round in the UK to come next.
Scott Redding (Aruba Ducati) was part of a strong top four but dropped off the pace towards the end, allowing Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing) to make some ground on him.
Redding would finish fourth, Lowes eventually sixth after the fast advancing Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) earned a well-deserved top five finish by passing Lowes in the final laps.
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) had another outstanding ride to seventh, passing no less a force than Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) into the fast Curvone right hander and fighting to keep his top seven finish to the flag.
With Bautista eighth, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) was ninth and Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 11th and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 12th in a disappointing weekend for his team.
Eugene Laverty fought to a single point after his big crash yesterday.
Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven Ducati) retired early in the race while Leon Haslam crashed out.
Rea now has 149 points, Razgatlioglu 129, Redding 104 and Lowes 88, just six ahead of Rinaldi.
