Magny-Cours WSBK: Razgatlioglu wins again with last-lap pass
Toprak Razgatlioglu beat World Superbike title rival Jonathan Rea in a thrilling Superpole race at Magny-Cours, as the pair swapped positions twice on the final lap.
The 10-lap Sunday morning sprint produced the same result as Saturday's opening race, but was a much closer affair as Yamaha man Razgatlioglu edged out Rea's Kawasaki by just three tenths of a second.
That followed a lunge up the inside at Lycee corner on the final lap by the Turkish rider, who took his eighth win of the season to eke out his championship lead to eight points.
Poleman Rea led into Turn 1, and a bid by Razgatlioglu to wrest the advantage at the Adelaide hairpin on the opening lap failed.
But the next time around, Razgatlioglu was able to dive up the inside and grab a lead he would maintain until the final lap.
Rea was able to stick with Razgatlioglu this time, and although he lost a chunk of time as he got his braking wrong at Adelaide on lap 7 and nearly wiped out his opponent, he was soon back on the tail of the Yamaha rider.
On the final lap, Rea launched a surprise raid at the Imola chicane to grab the lead with just a handful of corners to go, but coming down the hill to Lycee - the last corner bar the final chicane - Razgatlioglu was back on the attack, braking late to repass Rea and grab the victory.
Kawasaki's Alex Lowes made up for his Saturday crash by taking third, scoring his first podium finish in two months, helped by a first-lap pass on Andrea Locatelli - who nonetheless made it a 10th top-four finish in a row on the second factory Yamaha.
Scott Redding enjoyed an upturn in form on the Ducati after a dreadful race on Saturday, progressing from eighth on the grid to fifth.
Michael van der Mark enjoyed another strong showing aboard the BMW in sixth place, leading home Alvaro Bautista (Honda), Chaz Davies (Go Eleven Ducati) and Leon Haslam (Honda).
Michael Ruben Rinaldi trailed home in 10th on the second factory Ducati, while front-row starter Tom Sykes could manage no better than 12th after another bruising opening couple of laps.
Lucas Mahias was back in action on the Puccetti Kawasaki after sitting out Saturday's race, finishing 14th behind GRT Yamaha's Garrett Gerloff.
Race results:
Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 54 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu
|
Yamaha | 10 | |
2 | 1 |
Jonathan Rea
|
Kawasaki | 10 | 0.352 |
3 | 22 |
Alex Lowes
|
Kawasaki | 10 | 5.634 |
4 | 55 |
Andrea Locatelli
|
Yamaha | 10 | 6.995 |
5 | 45 |
Scott Redding
|
Ducati | 10 | 7.736 |
6 | 60 |
Michael van der Mark
|
BMW | 10 | 8.471 |
7 | 19 |
Alvaro Bautista
|
Honda | 10 | 9.867 |
8 | 7 |
Chaz Davies
|
Ducati | 10 | 10.240 |
9 | 91 |
Leon Haslam
|
Honda | 10 | 11.677 |
10 | 21 |
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
|
Ducati | 10 | 12.035 |
11 | 47 |
Axel Bassani
|
Ducati | 10 | 12.331 |
12 | 66 |
Tom Sykes
|
BMW | 10 | 12.583 |
13 | 31 |
Garrett Gerloff
|
Yamaha | 10 | 12.854 |
14 | 44 |
Lucas Mahias
|
Kawasaki | 10 | 21.949 |
15 | 53 |
Tito Rabat
|
Ducati | 10 | 22.670 |
16 | 3 |
Kohta Nozane
|
Yamaha | 10 | 25.982 |
17 | 23 |
Christophe Ponsson
|
Yamaha | 10 | 26.442 |
18 | 94 |
Jonas Folger
|
BMW | 10 | 27.556 |
19 | 36 |
Leandro Mercado
|
Honda | 10 | 30.374 |
20 | 84 |
Loris Cresson
|
Kawasaki | 10 | 33.876 |
32 |
Isaac Viñales
|
Kawasaki | 0 | ||
View full results |
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