WorldSBK Prosecco DOC UK Round: the entire SBK grid on slicks in mixed track conditions; Toprak Razgatlioglu wins Race 1

At Donington Park, Jonathan Rea takes his fourth consecutive pole position, finishes Race 1 second ahead of teammate Alex Lowes and holds onto the Championship lead

Castle Donington (England), 3 July 2021 – Today, on the English Donington Park track, the first day of races were held in the fourth round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season. Saturday morning on the British weekend was characterised by intermittent rain that left the asphalt wet and let the riders try the new front Rain solution Pirelli brought in free practice and the qualifying session. 

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) took his fourth pole position of the season, breaking the streak for ‘super pole man’ Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR), who had been unbeaten since 2015 on the Donington circuit, earning the first spot on the starting grid. Michael van der Mark, who had been a protagonist on the British circuit in the 2018 season, also performed well, starting from the second spot on the grid, whereas Sykes did the third best time in qualifying.

Despite the initial rain, the asphalt began to dry out ahead of Race 1, so the riders unanimously chose to race on slick solutions. In fact, for the front, all the riders chose the standard soft SC1 solution (options A), whereas on the rear, two thirds of the starting grid preferred the standard soft SC0 solution (option B).

WorldSBK Race 1:

In Race 1, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) started well straight away, taking the race lead. Behind him was, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1), who went from thirteenth to second with a brilliant start, ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR). On the second lap, the Turkish rider managed to gain the upper hand over the reigning champion, moving into the race lead, while the latter momentarily lost control of his bike, taking a brief excursion off track and re-joining in second place ahead of BMW rider Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR). In the meantime, the group of five made up of Tom Sykes, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1), Michael van der Mark and Leon Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R) battled for the last podium position, putting on a spectacular show. It was the American, Gerloff, who came out on top of the group, leaving his rivals behind for several laps before crashing out and re-joining in seventh place. The final laps held no surprises and Toprak Razgatlioglu took his second victory of the season ahead of Jonathan Rea and teammate Alex Lowes.

WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:

1. T. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
2. J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
3. A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
4. T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR)
5. M. van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR)
6. L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R)
7. G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
8. Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R)
9. L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
10. A. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
11. C. Davies (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
12. M. Rinaldi (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
13. E. Laverty (RC Squadra Corse / BMW M 1000 RR)
14. L. Mossey (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
15. I. Viñales (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
16. L. Cresson (TPR Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)

• RT. S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• RT. A. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
• RT. T. Rabat (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
• RT. C. Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
• RT. J. Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing / BMW M 1000 RR)

Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup Race 1 and Race 2:

Spanish rider J. CONESA BENITO (#74) and British rider F. SEABRIGHT (#47) are the respective winners of Race 1 and Race 2 of the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup at Donington Park.

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1:

In Race 1, all the riders chose to race on the standard slick options brought by Pirelli to Donington Park. More specifically, on the front, the entire grid went with the standard soft SC1 solution (option A), whereas at the rear, the most popular solution was the standard soft SC0 (option B). The riders who preferred the standard super soft SCX solution (option A) on the rear were Garrett Gerloff, Michael Rinaldi, Andrea Locatelli, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Eugene Laverty, Alvaro Bautista and Isaac Viñales.

Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1), in 1’28.571 on the 14th lap

• Most used front solution: standard soft SC1 (21 out of 21 riders)

• Most used rear solution: standard soft SC0 (14 out of 21 riders)

• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 273.7 km/h, done by Michael Ruben Rinaldi (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) on the 14th lap

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 6 rear

• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 64, including 32 front and 32 rear

• Air temperature: 19° C

• Asphalt temperature: 26° C