Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX) gambled away his huge lead in the world championship by falling on Turn 15 when he landed rudely in the gravel in pursuit of Jonathan Rea.

Toprak with Crash – Rea makes World Cup exciting again with victory

A split second before the start of the last European race there was some excitement and Jonathan Rea waved to the race management that something was wrong and that it should be cancelled. The reigning world champion was only in row four after his second crash this weekend, but of course he did the right thing. The traffic lights did not work properly, which is why there was a termination due to this technical problem. After the start, Jonathan Rea caused a sensation when he turned sixth into the first corner and took over the command for the first time a little later. But as expected, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Scott Redding did not reveal a meter. Before Turn 1 they passed the reigning world champion several times. But halfway through the race, Rea had a lead over his pursuers.

Just a fraction of a second before the start, the traffic lights did not work properly, after which it was stopped and after a short warm-up lap another attempt had to be made.

Razgatlioglu falls and Rea escapes
A little later you saw how part of his Yamaha bid farewell to his bike in a right turn on the Turkish’s Yamaha and the world championship leader landed roughly in the gravel. An unleashed Johnny Rea then drove on as if the devil was after him. It was only Ducati works driver Redding who was able to dispute the victory he had hoped for. If the Englishman stayed seated, he would take the overall victory of the last European round with the fourth P2 in a row since race 2 in Jerez de la Frontera. And that’s exactly what he had in mind, and he saw that there was little point in trying to catch the unleashed Kawasaki man. Behind Scott, Loris Baz and Alvaro Bautista fought for third place on the podium with a knife between their teeth, just like the day before.

Loris Baz (GoEleven Ducati) ahead of Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) in the fight for the podium – in the end the substitute pilot for the injured Chaz Davies was in the lead again, while the Spaniard experienced another disaster after his fall the day before.

Next crash destroys Honda’s second chance on the podium
The little Spaniard fell promptly, like on Saturday, but this time it was not entirely his fault. There was an unfortunate touch on turn five when first Loris and then Alvaro went far and then touched. With another crash, the HRC Honda rider and Rea, who had also fallen twice, were of course the unlucky person of the weekend, with the latter giving himself and his team a huge gift with his victory and the World Championship is completely open again.

Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) and his CBR-1000RR-R SP Fireblade in the gravel – the brave Spaniard narrowly missed the podium again after race one on Saturday and by falling.

Superpole Race winner van der Mark clearly beaten in the dry
In addition to Ducati private rider Loris Baz, the Dutchman didn’t stand a chance against the two Yamaha riders Andrea Locatelli and Garrett Gerloff. After his sensational victory on the wet track, however, the man from Gouda had already announced that he did not expect a repetition. Only one of the arrogant people from the BMW team spoke of a chance on the podium before the race, but the reality was that, thanks to Bautista’s fall, he was even given sixth place. Behind Michael Ruben Rindaldi, Leon Haslam, who fell in the sprint race, saved Honda’s honour with P8 in front of Axel Bassani and Eugene Laverty. The fast Argentine Mercado narrowly missed the top ten and in what was possibly the last WSBK race of his career, Jonas Folger (BMW) scored at least one World Championship point with P15.

Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) before the start – like on Saturday afternoon, the Englishman was also the rescue for the works team of the world’s largest manufacturer in the last race and could be proud of it, although he would have liked to get his first podium of the season.

The last race of Portimão in numbers

An overjoyed Johnny Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) after one of his most important races of his career – with his victory he opened the door to defending his title unexpectedly wide again thanks to Toprak’s crash.

The first Interviews after the race of the top 3 riders
Loris Baz spoke of an unbelievable race, and he was very close to the limit several times in the first corner in a fight with Bautista. He also felt sorry for the Spaniard after his fall, but that’s how it was in racing, and of course he was overjoyed to be on the podium for the third time. Scott Redding admitted he didn’t have the pace to follow Rea once he was driving alone. He had said this the day before and would not have known how hard Rea would push after his two falls. But another second place is of course a top result, and with that he can happily go into the two-week break before the Argentina round. The winner, of course, was overwhelmed and said his team was an integral part of his triumph. You would have had to rebuild his bike twice after the falls and did a perfect job with it. The Northern Irishman also stated that he had enjoyed every minute of his race this time. He is extremely happy that it finally worked out on the third attempt, especially for his team and Kawasaki.

The podium with Portugal overall winner Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati, P2), winner Jonathan Rea (KRT Kawasaki) and third-placed GoEleven Ducati substitute driver Loris Baz, who jumped in for the injured Chaz Davies after Jerez.

The Autodromo do Algarve

Stand in the WorldSBK world championships before the last 2 rounds

After his disaster in the last race, Raztaglioglu’s lead fell back to 24 points. The World Cup leader from Turkey can clearly feel the breath of his stubborn pursuer on the back of his neck, before the penultimate round two weeks later in Argentina. The Kawasaki ace is the most successful driver in the field in San Juan, as it is still in Portimão. While Scott Redding can hardly become world champion on his own, there is still a chance for the Northern Irishman due to his sensational victory after two severe setbacks. Behind the Ducati man, things are tight between his team-mate Rinaldi and Toprak’s team-mate Locatelli. The two Italians are currently only separated by 3 points in the interim ranking.

P, Rider, Points, Bike
1. TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU 478 YAMAHA
2. JONATHAN REA 454 KAWASAKI
3. SCOTT REDDING 424 DUCATI
4. MICHAEL RUBEN RINALDI 249 DUCATI
5. ANDREA LOCATELLI 246 YAMAHA
6. MICHAEL VAN DER MARK 211 BMW
7. ALEX LOWES 199 KAWASAKI
8. GARRETT GERLOFF 193 YAMAHA
9. ALVARO BAUTISTA 174 HONDA
10. AXEL BASSANI 169 DUCATI
11. TOM SYKES 167 BMW
12. LEON HASLAM 123 HONDA
13. CHAZ DAVIES 120 DUCATI
14. LORIS BAZ 56 DUCATI
15. KOHTA NOZANE 51 YAMAHA
16. LUCAS MAHIAS 44 KAWASAKI
17. TITO RABAT 41 KAWASAKI
18. EUGENE LAVERTY 37 BMW
19. ISAAC VINALES 32 KAWASAKI
20. CHRISTOPHE PONSSON 31 YAMAHA
21. LEANDRO MERCADO 25 HONDA
22. JONAS FOLGER 21 BMW
23. SAMUELE CAVALIERI 10 DUCATI
24. MARVIN FRITZ 6 YAMAHA
25. LORIS CRESSON 3 KAWASAKI
26. ANDREA MANTOVANI 2 KAWASAKI
27. LUKE MOSSEY 2 KAWASAKI

After his two falls in the first two races at the Autodromo do Algarve, the reigning world champion still had reason to celebrate – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) on his lap of honour as the winner of the last European race of 2021.

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