Starting with the exceptional Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW M-1000RR) on the far right, after a short time his competitors only saw the exhaust pipe on his favorite track in England. In the sprint, only Niccolo Bulega managed to stay ahead of the Turk for a short time before he got serious and easily overtook the Italian’s factory Ducati, leaving him far behind.

Sprint with redemption at the home race for the best of all time

It was probably more like rocks than stones that fell from the hearts of Yamaha newcomer Jonathan Rea and his team when the 6-time record world champion crossed the finish line in third place with a wheelie after the sprint race. For once, the actually gigantic gap to winner Razgatlioglu after just ten laps was completely irrelevant. On the contrary, despite this, the fact that the Northern Irishman even narrowed the gap to second-placed Bulega and his Ducati gave them even more courage for the rest of the season. The result on Sunday morning may have been groundbreaking for Rea and his team and the basis for saving a season that many sceptics had already thought was lost. For BMW, the result in the Tissot Sprint Race was nothing less than confirmation that their figurehead Toprak must now finally be considered the title favorite after the second demonstration of his superiority in England. The Turk once again drove his own race on a course that has always suited the motorcycle from Bavaria well.

A historic sixth victory in a row for Toprak and also the first podium, at least virtual, as it was only achieved in the Tissot Sprint Race, for Jonathan Rea on Yamaha. To the delight of the numerous local visitors, there were also excellent results for Scott Redding and Alex Lowes, who was able to successfully defend himself against Alvaro Bautista.

Tops and flops in the Tissot Sprint Race

In addition to Jonathan Rea, Sam Lowes in particular must be counted among the top shots for Sunday morning, despite falling from P3 after turn 1 to 8th place, and the brave “Petrux” in ninth place. After his serious accident, Danilo Petrucci is something like the moral winner in the sprint. It is difficult to include Alvaro Bautista in the top spots after 6th place, as we are used to him catching up to the top or at least the podium even from a poor starting position. In addition to Bulega, Scott Redding and Alex Lowes in particular are among the drivers who were able to impress with strong performances, as they had the day before. On the other hand, the results of Iannone, Aegerter, van der Mark, Rinaldi and Remy Gardner were once again disappointing. In addition to the results, which, with the exception of the Dutchman and the Swiss, were once again far below expectations, as was the case the day before, they all also felt the fact that they missed out on important points. For numbers 60 (of “Magic Michael” van der Mark) and 77 (of Domi Aegerter) there will also be a relegation of their starting positions for the final race at Donington Park.

Sam Lowes, here ahead of Alvaro Bautista (both Ducati Panigale V4R), showed a good race the morning after his bad luck on Saturday. The fast man from Lincoln and twin brother of Kawasaki ace Alex is already sure that he and his team will remain in the WorldSBK paddock next season. The rider with the number one, on the other hand, has been reluctant to commit to his future for months, even though he has already received a contract extension offer from his team that is certainly not bad. To some observers, it seems as if he even enjoys having an unpleasant influence on the future of some competitors and teams, not least his own.
Turn 4, called Old Hairpin, proved fatal to Kawasaki newcomer Axel Bassani on his ZX-10RR on the second lap. The young Italian had to end his hopes of a good result with a fall 10 days before his twenty-fifth birthday. As the best WSBK privateer in 2022, Rea’s successor in the Kawasaki factory team is currently still going through a baptism of fire.

Donington Park Finale – Bautista crashes before the start

After the Yamaha R7 brand cup, which is usually dominated by 4 Spanish Amazons and staged by Dorna and FIM with much fanfare as the WorldWCR Women’s World Championship, the clear premier class of the series-based world championship was once again in action. Not to misunderstand, the rather low spectator interest in the women’s races may be mainly due to the far too few championship races, as they are only held over 6 rounds and thus exactly half of the number of WSBK events, which for many tastes is far too low. But now to the category for which the majority of visitors made the journey to the beautiful track. Before the finale, perhaps those responsible for the Italian sparkling wine industry as the main sponsor in Donington were secretly hoping for a winner other than the staunch Muslim Razgatlioglu. To their chagrin, he usually flees before the traditional champagne shower on the podium so as not to come into contact with their product contaminated by the devil’s alcohol. For his title rival Bautista, Sunday afternoon began with extremely unpleasant stress when he slipped on his Ducati in Turn 12 during the sighting lap and damaged his Panigale V4R.

Alvaro Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4R) ahead of Yamaha newcomer Jonathan Rea on the R1 in the blue that many are still unfamiliar with. In Donington, the man with the number 65 was not only the best Yamaha rider for the first time, but also defeated his Spanish arch-rival and two-time world champion in the sprint race.

The third race of Donington and 15th of the season

While Bautista had to hope on the starting grid that his team would be able to repair the unnecessary damage he had caused in time, his competitor Rea was modest in the interview. His clear goal was not the podium, but to build on his performance of fifth place over the full distance the day before. Razgatlioglu did not need to be questioned on this, he had already announced his clear goal much earlier, and that was to repeat the triple victory from Misano in England. While the Turk began to put his plan into action at the front from the start, the reigning world champion had unexpected difficulties after what was actually a good start. After a few corners, he dropped from P5 to P7 and Bautista even had to fend off Ducati private driver Petrucci to avoid falling back to 8th place. Rea was caught early by Pata Prometeon Yamaha factory team colleague Locatelli and was in P6, while behind leader Toprak and his pursuer Bulega the two local heroes Alex Lowes and Scott Redding fought for the podium.

A shot of the inside of one of the most beautiful race tracks in the world. The conditions in Donington Park were perfect for a great weekend, only the dominance of the world championship leader took away the tension regarding the decision for victory, as in Italy a few weeks before.

Toprak with the second hat trick of the season – Bautista fails again

At half-time, as his rivals had feared, it was already clear that only a fall or technical defect could prevent the Turk from his second triple triumph of the year. Behind him, the man who dominated the previous two years due to his material advantages was completely different. It was only in the twelfth of 23 laps that the little Spaniard managed to overtake Locatelli after Rea and thus move up to P5. At this point, he was already around 11 seconds behind the leader on his BMW M-1000RR, which is unlikely to increase his market value for the coming season, not least because his teammate Bulega was in second place. Bautista had no chance and was stuck in fifth place, which meant that he was once again badly beaten and the podium was out of his reach. Behind him and “Petrux”, Rea fought bitterly with Locatelli for seventh place, with the Italian ultimately holding his nose in front. Bulega finished a comfortable second behind Razgatlioglu, while Alex Lowes took his next podium and Redding took an excellent fourth place on the second-best BMW. Together with the outstanding Toprak and Petrucci as the best private driver in P6, he will certainly be happy to travel on to the Czech Republic.

After a podium finish on Sunday morning, albeit only a virtual one, Jonathan Rea had to eat hard again when he clearly missed his goal of a top 5 finish in the final race and was once again only the second-best rider for Yamaha. Andrea Iannone had to abandon his race early due to problems in his right arm, and the Italian private pilot may have been suffering from an “arm pump” handicap.

Tops and flops in the third race in England

Alongside the top six, Dominique Aegerter and Axel Bassani in particular should be happy with their top ten result, or at least relieved after a tough weekend. The same goes for the two HRC Honda factory riders Lecuona and Vierge, who at least made it into the points. Michael van der Mark and Remy Gardner, like Andrea Locatelli and Garrett Gerloff, and all the riders without points, will definitely not be able to say that they had a good weekend. The same applies to MIE Honda private rider Adam Norrodin, who crashed early on in turn 8, and whose teammate Mackenzie had to withdraw from Sunday’s first race after a collision with him. Things didn’t go so well this time for Sam Lowes, who had impressed in the morning. After the weekend in Donington, however, there is reason to be concern about local hero Bradley Ray. Even at his home race in his second season, the former BSB top rider was unable to build on his successful races at this beautiful venue. To secure his future in the WorldSBK, he urgently needs success, which also applies to his Yamaha colleague Philipp Oettl. Tito Rabat, the jeweler’s son from Barcelona, ​​should not have this problem. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is known in the paddock for collecting large sums of money from its riders for their performances, and in this respect hardly anyone can keep up with the Catalan.

Our summary of the results so far, with the only rain race of the season so far colored in light blue and a leader who has been pulling away from his pursuers ever more clearly since Misano.

Conclusion after 5 of 12 rounds in the WorldSBK

After the season opener dominated by Ducati on the fast track in Phillip Island (Australia), many neutral fans were worried that the same old pattern of the past two years with Bautista winning at will would continue. Toprak was able to ride his heart out several times, only to be mercilessly outdone by the Spaniard on the Yamaha in terms of acceleration and top speed, resulting in defeat after defeat. After just a few tests in February of this season, the BMW M-1000RR was still far too new for the Turk to make the most of its potential and seriously challenge the Ducati factory riders. But the tide began to turn as soon as the European opener took place in the Catalan metropolis. While the Spaniard lost some of his drastic advantages due to the additional weight of just 3 to 4 kilograms on his Ducati Panigale V4R as a result of the newly introduced weight limit and had difficulty balancing his motorcycle, Razgatlioglu improved lap by lap. After Ducati’s home race in Misano, which was so important for him, the turnaround was achieved and Toprak literally destroyed the competition from Borgo Panigale and its flagships with his incredibly spectacular driving style. At the moment, only crashes or technical problems seem to be able to slow down number 54, for which another of his favorite tracks is already coming up in Most (Czech Republic) after just one week.

Danilo Petrucci ahead of Michael van der Mark – the brave Italian will travel to the Czech Republic with good memories, as he achieved the best result of his rookie season in Most last year and was on the podium over the full distance in both races.
An earlier photo from the early years of the Autodrom Most, with the landmark of the nearby small town in the background. We will soon be covering this interesting event in detail on our website, and will later also report on our impressions on site and the WorldSBK event.

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