Portimao WSBK: Razgatlioglu hangs on to win Superpole race

Razgatlioglu blasted past pole-sitter Jonathan Rea at the start of the 10-lap sprint but soon had to contend with the championship-leading Ducati of Bautista, the two engaging in the kind of battle that has characterised much of the 2022 season.

Bautista was able to use the sheer grunt of his Ducati to snatch the lead from Razgatlioglu at the start of lap 2, but the Turkish rider fought back with the strengths of his Yamaha to reinstate the status quo.

With four laps to go Bautista was again able to inch ahead of the Yamaha on the start/finish straight, but Razgatlioglu managed to outbrake the Spanish rider to hold on to the lead.

Bautista continued to put the pressure on Razgatlioglu in the final laps of the race, but the defending champion was able to fend him off to score his 10th win of the 2022 season and reduce the deficit to Bautista in the standings.

Rea didn’t complete fall away from the leading duo as was the case in Saturday’s opening race, but the Kawasaki rider wasn’t really able to put up a real fight either and ended up 1.4s adrift in third.

Alex Lowes’ upturn in performance continued as he took the chequered flag in fourth, only half a second down on his Kawasaki teammate Rea, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi was a strong fifth on the second of the factory Ducatis.

Top independent rider honours went to Axel Bassani on the Motocorsa Ducati in sixth, as Garrett Gerloff crashed his GRT Yamaha with four laps remaining.

Factory Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli finished seventh, while BMW’s Michael van der Mark secured his best result since his return from injury in eighth.

Loriz Baz (Bonovo BMW) and Xavi Vierge (Honda) completed the top 10. 

Portimao WSBK - Race results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Gap
1	1	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Yamaha
2	19	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	0.123
3	65	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki	1.434
4	22	Alex Lowes	Kawasaki	1.976
5	21	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	Ducati	3.965
6	47	Axel Bassani	Ducati	5.969
7	55	Andrea Locatelli	Yamaha	6.067
8	60	Michael van der Mark	BMW	11.297
9	76	Loris Baz	BMW	11.945
10	97	Xavi Vierge	Honda	12.014
11	5	Philipp Oettli	Ducati	12.692
12	7	Iker Lecuona	Honda	12.937
13	45	Scott Redding	BMW	15.165
14	44	Lucas Mahias	Kawasaki	18.996
15	50	Eugene Laverty	BMW	20.677
16	33	Jake Gagne	Yamaha	20.816
17	17	Marvin Fritz	Yamaha	24.172
18	29	Luca Bernardi	Ducati	24.575
19	91	Leon Haslam	Kawasaki	25.909
20	3	Kohta Nozane	Yamaha	26.206
21	36	Leandro Mercado	Honda	26.421
22	23	Christophe Ponsson	Yamaha	27.390
23	35	Hafizh Syahrin	Honda	29.711
24	52	Oliver Konig	Kawasaki	45.459
	31	Garrett Gerloff	Yamaha
	2	Roberto Tamburini	Yamaha
View full results