WSBK: Donington Park & Assen
Everything that went down in World Superbike
Donington Park was wet when the defending champion, Jonathan rea (kawasaki racing team worldsBk), went out for qualifying but the circuit gradually dried up, allowing him to set the fastest lap (1’40.101) and claim pole position. Joining him on the front row were the BMw men, Michael van der Mark and tom sykes, in second and third places respectively.
the first lap of the Prosecco DoC Uk round was full of drama. rea rocketed off the line in the lead while toprak razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BriXX worldsBk) made eight places by the first turn. By the second lap, razgatlioglu overtook rea and claimed the lead. things got better for the young turk when rea made an error on the third lap, allowing the former to extend his lead. Behind the race leaders, Michael van der Mark (BMw Motorrad worldsBk team), teammate tom sykes, alex Lowes (kawasaki racing team worldsBk), and garrett gerloff (grt Yamaha worldsBk team) fought for a podium finish. the battle was intense and gerloff left the group after a crash. he was able to remount and finish in seventh place, though. Lowes made the most of the situation and outrode the two BMws to secure a third-place finish.
rain before the superpole race changed everything because the racers were forced to make a tyre gamble. rea made the most of this situation and got a good start off the line, taking the lead early on and, ultimately, the victory. his teammate, Lowes, held on to second place for a while until a crash brought the BMw men back into podium contention. they fended off their attackers rather well and claimed a double podium for the german manufacturer.
the race on sunday was one to watch because it was full of twists and turns, both literally and figuratively. rea got off to a good start and held the lead but found himself under pressure from razgatlioglu early in the race. the move came on the fourth lap and the turk moved into the lead, but the defending champion kept the pressure on and won back the lead on the 10th lap. what came next was completely unexpected because the defending champion made a rare error and tumbled out of the race. needless to say, razgatlioglu kept a cool head and won the race with gerloff in second place. BMw once again found themselves on the podium with sykes.