Donington WSBK: Razgatlioglu takes sensational win from 13th

With the help of the softer-compound SCX rear tyre, Razgatlioglu made a blistering getaway gain eight spots and move up to fifth place at Turn 1, before progressing to second behind poleman Jonathan Rea on the opening tour on a still-damp but mostly dry track.

Kawasaki man Rea, using the standard SC0 rear, soon came under pressure from Razgatlioglu and was forced to concede the advantage at Coppice.

By the end of the third lap of 23, Razgatlioglu had charged three seconds clear, helped by a lurid slide across the grass at the Craner Curves for Rea that incredibly didn't cost the reigning champion any places.

While Rea was then able to get the gap back down to two seconds, the Razgatlioglu responded over the following laps, gradually stretching his advantage to over five seconds.

The Turkish rider appeared to run out of fuel within sight of the chequered flag, but held on by 2.4s to take his second win of the season and close within 15 points of Rea in the riders' standings.

However, Razgatlioglu needed assistance from Alex Lowes on the slowing-down lap to make it back to the pits.

Lowes scored his first podium since the opening round of the season at Aragon in third place, albeit 12s down at the finish.

The Kawasaki man came out on top in an entertaining scrap that also featured BMW pair Michael van der Mark and Tom Sykes, as well as the GRT Yamaha of Garrett Gerloff and Leon Haslam's Honda.

Gerloff had briefly moved into the position only to throw away the chance of a podium with a crash at Goddards - promoting Sykes into fourth ahead at the finish ahead of van der Mark and Haslam.

The American rider however remounted his Yamaha and managed to repass Lucas Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) and Alvaro Bautista (Honda) to finish in seventh place.

Completing the top 10 behind Bautista and Mahias was Motocorsa Racing's Axel Bassani, the top Ducati finisher in a miserable race for the Italian marque.

Chaz Davies could manage no better than 11th on the Go Eleven bike, struggling with a shoulder injury sustained last time out at Misano, one place ahead of factory Ducati man Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

Scott Redding's already fragile-looking title hopes took a further knock as he suffered a highside crash running over a damp patch at the Craner Curves on lap two, which has left him 65 points adrift of Rea.

British Superbike regular Luke Mossey scored two points in 14th in his first outing of the season for Pedercini Kawasaki.

Race results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Laps	Gap
1	54	Toprak Razgatlioglu	Yamaha	23
2	1	Jonathan Rea	Kawasaki	23	2.419
3	22	Alex Lowes	Kawasaki	23	12.261
4	66	Tom Sykes	BMW	23	14.625
5	60	Michael van der Mark	BMW	23	16.447
6	91	Leon Haslam	Honda	23	17.028
7	31	Garrett Gerloff	Yamaha	23	33.345
8	19	Alvaro Bautista	Honda	23	37.385
9	44	Lucas Mahias	Kawasaki	23	43.566
10	47	Axel Bassani	Ducati	23	43.836
11	7	Chaz Davies	Ducati	23	48.102
12	21	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	Ducati	23	56.538
13	50	Eugene Laverty	BMW	23	59.392
14	12	Luke Mossey	Kawasaki	23	1'01.922
15	32	Isaac Viñales	Kawasaki	23	1'22.275
16	84	Loris Cresson	Kawasaki	22
	94	Jonas Folger	BMW	21
	53	Tito Rabat	Ducati	13
	55	Andrea Locatelli	Yamaha	6
	45	Scott Redding	Ducati	1
	23	Christophe Ponsson	Yamaha	1
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