Scott Redding (Ducati) In the first race in Argentina on Saturday behind Sykes substitute Eugene Laverty (BMW) on his chase to catch up after the crash in the first corner – but in the second race on Sunday everything went according to plan for the Englishman.

Toprak beaten by Redding and Rea

For the third time this weekend, pole sitter Toprak Razgatlioglu took the lead after the start. But in contrast to the first two races, nothing came of his escape to the front this time, although Scott Redding almost caught him in the Superpole Race that morning. The Ducati driver was again in top form and this time it was he who was ahead of the competition from the middle of the race. Within one lap, he was eight tenths ahead of Toprak. Meanwhile, Jonathan Rea felt more and more pressure. The Kawasaki man was very pleased to be able to beat the Turks in a direct duel this time. In the world championship, however, the train for the Northern Irish has almost left. With exactly 30 points behind Razgatlioglu, he has to hope for a failure or fall of the Yamaha ace for the season finale in order to have a chance to defend his title.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) with a sceptical look in front of almost empty grandstands on the Circuito de San Juan – the reigning world champion showed a strong race on Sunday afternoon, but in the title fight it looks bad for him before the final round on the island of Lombok in Indonesia.

The winners and losers in the last race of Argentina
Axel Bassani was the man who can be counted among the clear winners. After a fifth and two fourth places, the Italian Motocorsa Ducati private driver is only beaten by a handful of works drivers. On Sunday he was less than two seconds short of another podium in both races after his sensational second place in the first round in Barcelona. Only third-best man for Ducati was Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who only saw the chequered flag once in front of his fast compatriot, but at least he was fifth-best driver of the weekend in San Juan. With two sixths and one fifth, the Dutchman was always in the top six, but to be beaten by Ducati privateer Bassani is basically a shame for the extremely self-confident BMW works team, especially after first podium finishes with the new M. -1000RR this season.

Axel Bassani with the Motocorsa Ducati crew after the race in Parc fermé – the young Italian could be more than proud of his performance in San Juan, despite missing the podium.

Only a few losers in the penultimate round of the WSBK season, 2021
While Locatelli and Gerloff could be satisfied with solid top ten placements, Leon Haslam was also one of the winners with two tenth and a ninth place. This included those who scored points in Argentina, although Alvaro Bautista, as the race winner in 2019, could not be really satisfied with his yield two years later. Eugene Laverty too could at most have agreed with the result on Saturday. After good performances in Jerez and Portimao, the Northern Irishman returned to Europe this time with only 3 points, which of course is clearly not enough for a works bike like the new BMW. Tito Rabat can look back on the weekend in Argentina much more positively as a replacement for the injured Kawasaki Puccetti driver Lucas Mahias. With nine points, the Catalan got his second best result after Estoril with Navarra.

Local hero Leandro “Tati” Mercado (MIE Honda) ahead of Eugene Laverty (BMW) and other pursuers – after two sixteenth places on Sunday afternoon, P15 was finally enough for a championship point in front of the home crowd, which this time only appeared sparsely.

Second race of Argentina in numbers

Status in the Championship before the last round

P, Rider, Points, Bike
1. TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU 531 YAMAHA
2. JONATHAN REA 501 KAWASAKI
3. SCOTT REDDING 465 DUCATI
4. MICHAEL RUBEN RINALDI 278 DUCATI
5. ANDREA LOCATELLI 270 YAMAHA
6. MICHAEL VAN DER MARK 236 BMW
7. ALEX LOWES 213 KAWASAKI
8. GARRETT GERLOFF 213 YAMAHA
9. AXEL BASSANI 199 DUCATI
10. ALVARO BAUTISTA 180 HONDA
11. TOM SYKES 167 BMW
12. LEON HASLAM 134 HONDA
13. CHAZ DAVIES 131 DUCATI
14. KOHTA NOZANE 54 YAMAHA
15. LORIS BAZ 53 DUCATI
16. TITO RABAT 50 KAWASAKI
17. LUCAS MAHIAS 44 KAWASAKI
18. EUGENE LAVERTY 40 BMW
19. ISAAC VINALES 35 KAWASAKI
20. CHRISTOPHE PONSSON 31 YAMAHA
21. LEANDRO MERCADO 26 HONDA
22. JONAS FOLGER 21 BMW
23. SAMUELE CAVALIERI 12 DUCATI
24. MARVIN FRITZ 6 YAMAHA
25. LORIS CRESSON 3 KAWASAKI
26. ANDREA MANTOVANI 2 KAWASAKI
27. LUKE MOSSEY 2 KAWASAKI

As always, the champagne shower on the podium took place without Toprak, who had previously fled as a believing Muslim.
The complete podium with from left Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki, P2), winner Scott Redding (Ducati) and the third placed championship Leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha).

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