Photographed by us in the second lap of the sprint race on Sunday morning before turn two – the Ducati of Sam Lowes, who is still lying on the ground in the middle of the picture, is being taken away and to the right of it is Scott Redding’s BMW. The former produced a highside in turn 1, and his compatriot was unable to avoid it and also ended up in the gravel. On the last lap, that was the end for Bautista too.

Dramatic WorldSBK Sunday in Most with outstanding Toprak

The fact that the Turk from the Czech Republic left Sunday afternoon undefeated for the tenth time in a row has been reported absolutely correctly. However, almost all reporters are much less precise about his number of race victories. If you weigh these correctly and in the same way as MotoGP, the Turk has already won 8 races over the full distance (which counts as a Grand Prix in the motorcycle world championship) this season, plus a further 4 in the sprint race, which he has achieved due to around half the number of points (and because only the first 9 drivers get points, instead of 15 in races over the full number of laps). With 31 victories, Toprak is now only 2 away from Troy Corser to draw level with the Australian WSBK legend, in whose time there were no sprint races, of which Razgatlioglu has already won 20. According to Toprak, he now needs two more wins in the first two races in Portimão to be the first to remain unbeaten 12 times in a row. The record on the Ducati MotoGP Replica was set at its premiere in 2019 and was not primarily Bautista’s achievement, as all opponents had a top speed disadvantage of around 15 to 25 km/h on the Spaniard. We were there when Jonathan Rea broke his streak in Imola on the first rider’s circuit on the calendar. For more information, see the History of WorldSBK on this page.

The official result of the Tissot Sprint Race, with a superb Toprak Razgatlioglu as the winner ahead of Nicolo Bulega, Alex Lowes, Danilo Petrucci and Remy Gardner on the fastest Yamaha. Jonathan Rea crossed the finish line behind Michael van der Mark, who was however demoted one position for overtaking under yellow flags. Both were able to improve their starting position for the final race in the afternoon with their placing.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) went astray, photographed by us immediately after his relatively harmless fall into the gravel bed – the track is still clearly visible. The race was over for the little Spaniard and his mistake on the last lap meant he missed out on a top starting position for the last race on Sunday.

Race 2 on Sunday with Alvaro’s second crash

Instead of being caught on the last lap like in the sprint, this time the reigning world champion was caught right after the start in turn one. When he came from the outside to the inside, he only had Yamaha ace Remy Gardner in sight at about the same height, but behind him was fellow Ducati rider Petrucci, who was unable to avoid him. The Italian collided with the Spaniard, which meant the race ended prematurely for both of them. Razgatlioglu ultimately won clearly, but in order not to put too much strain on his tires, he did not have a huge gap to his closest pursuer, Bulega. In an interview, Bulega was happy with second place and, halfway through the season, seems to be the Turk’s only opponent in the title fight. Ducati’s factory team-mate only scored 13 points on Saturday at the Czech weekend in Most and is now 104 points behind Toprak in the halfway point of the interim rankings, in a pretty hopeless position to defend the number 1 spot. It would no longer be surprising if Alvaro were to retire from active racing at the end of the season. For Ducati, his successor would definitely be a decision between the two former MotoGP stars Andrea Iannone and Danilo Petrucci. Both are of course hoping for a place in the Reds’ factory team and that the Spaniard will retire.

As is usual after collisions, the little Spaniard on the left in the picture saw the fault solely with the Italian in an interview after the crash with Danilo Petrucci. If the race management saw this immediately, “Petrux” would have to expect a penalty, but the former MotoGP star had a very different view of the incident than Bautista.
The race track with the most corners on the WorldSBK calendar, a total of 12 right and 9 left corners, often you see 14 and 7 as key data. The start-finish straight, at 792 meters, benefits the Ducati, which still has the superior top speed, as on some other courses.

The best WSBK riders on Sunday

In addition to the outstanding triple winner Razgatlioglu and Ducati hope Bulega, the two Yamaha riders Locatelli and Gardner were particularly convincing, each achieving exactly the same number of points in the sixth of 12 rounds with 29 points. The two Ducati private riders Petrucci and Iannone also achieved 27 points each, coming first despite retiring after a collision with Bautista in the second race. But Michael van der Mark, who was on course for a podium finish for a long time in the last race of the weekend, was also finally able to record an upward trend. Jonathan Rea, who had dropped back to 13th place in this race, finished just one place behind “Magic Michael”, which is proof of his fighting qualities and the confidence he has now found in the Yamaha R1, which is still relatively new to him. Former Ducati factory rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi achieved his third top ten result in Most, achieving his best result of the year so far in the Czech Republic. After his temporary low point from Assen to Donington, Garrett Gerloff also returned to the top positions. It is to be hoped that the Texan will be able to secure a place in the WorldSBK for 2025, although the future of his Bonovo Action Team is still quite uncertain. Honda is finally back in the fight for the top ten with Lecuona and Vierge and, in addition to Pucetti Kawasaki privateer Tito Rabat, BSB star Bradley Ray finally scored a point again.

Our photo in the paddock of Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team), who was happy to sign autographs for fans. The fast, glasses-wearing rider from England proved on the riders’ track in the Czech Republic that he deserves a place in the Superbike World Championship for the coming season.
The fact that record world champion Jonathan Rea had not yet led a single lap up until the halfway point of the season is not only giving his numerous fans food for thought. But Donington was probably the turning point for the Northern Irishman and now a podium finish over the full distance is probably only a matter of time for him, even if race wins would be rather surprising.
After the final bend is the start-finish straight, which is unpopular for all Ducati competitors and on which the advantage for the Panigale V4R could possibly be somewhat reduced next year. Due to its blatantly higher maximum speed, especially compared to the Yamaha R1 and Kawasaki ZX-10RR (with around 1000 rpm less), the fuel flow limiter is likely to take away some of the Ducati’s peak performance.

The problem children at halftime

Defending champion Bautista is causing the Ducati officials to frown ever more, especially since his weaknesses this season are reminiscent of his series of mistakes in 2019. Back then, he was the clear favorite for the title after 11 wins in a row, before Jonathan Rea’s incredibly strong performances frayed the Spaniard’s nerves and he had crash after crash. Despite his massive advantages in acceleration and top speed over the competition, record world champion Jonathan Rea still won his fifth title in what was perhaps the best season of his career. While Bautista’s 2020 and 2021 team with HRC Honda was finally able to fight for top ten positions again in Most, things are currently looking particularly worrying for the 77. Dominique Aegerter is apparently in a deep crisis and the outstanding performance of GYTR GRT Yamaha teammate Remy Gardner in Most is unlikely to improve the Swiss rider’s mood. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), who has crashed far too often in Moto2, had to miss the final race after his heavy crash, breaking his left collarbone, and should urgently try to stay seated more often. Kawasaki newcomer Axel Bassani, the only German Philipp Oettl and the private Honda team of Japanese Midori Moriwaki are high on the list of WSBK problem children. But in contrast to Philipp, neither the MIE Honda team, nor the Italian or Sam Lowes are among the endangered species in terms of their future in the near-production world championship.

A satisfied Yamaha ace Remy Gardner (front right) and behind him on the left the current Aruba.it Ducati problem child Alvaro Bautista photographed by us in the Parc Ferme. The careers of the two currently seem to be going in opposite directions and the Australian is almost certain to have a successful future in the WorldSBK. However, it is questionable whether the little man in red can build on his most successful times.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© WorldSBK).