Jonathan Rea beats Alvaro Bautista in a fantastic 🤪World Superbike last lap showdown in Estoril. 

For the third time in as many races fr🎉om pole, Rea lost the lead to a fast-starting Razgatlioglu. 

As light rain began to fall, Rea immediately regained the lead at turn six, whileꦛ Bautista did the same over Andrea Locatelli fo✱r third. 

That began a slide for Locatelli as Iker﷽ Lecuona and Alex Lowes both cameꦇ through on the same lap one. 

Despite making his intentions clear by taking the lead, Rea was unable to break clear of both Razgatlioglu and B🍰autista. 

Surprisingly the top three quickly became a top six as Lowes started to look very racy indeed. The Kawasaki rider got through on Bautista for third before applyingꦐ big pressure to Razgatlioglu. 

The top four then started to inch away from Locatelli who regained fifth placeﷺ off of Lecuona. At the beginning of lap five Isaac Vinales suffered the first crash of the race.

Moments later Razgatlioglu finally made a move for the lead at ꧂turn one, an overtaking hotspot for much of the grid this weekend.

Unlike the Superpole race, Rea didn’t attempt to squeeze൲ Razgatlioglu and subsequently run wide. Not for the first time this seaso💝n and certainly not the last, Rea came back at Razgatlioglu in turn one to claim the lead. 

The next lap around and Bautista completed the same move on Lowes for third. B🌺ut the Spaniard 🌳wasn’t done there. 

With 12 laps to go Bautista got a sensational run out of the final corner and passed both Razgatlioglu and Rea into turn one.&n💯bsp;

Bautista and Rea exchanged the lead on another two occasions as the four-time race winners iꦺn 202♎2 were visibly on the limit.

With ju🐻st under ten laps to go, Lowes lost touch with the front three who were getting i🐠ncreasingly closer. 

As hard as Rea tried, Bautista’s straight-line speed was proving too much for the six-time world champion. With Razgatlioglu out of contention in ♔third, Rea started getting closer and closer as the final lap beckoned. 

With Bautista able to keep the lead into turn one, Rea’s chances were becoming more and more limited, h൲owever, the Northern Irishman pounced at turn nine. 

Despite a big moment at the final corner Rea held on fo𒅌r the win ahead of the 🦂Aruba.it Ducati rider. 

Estoril WorldSBK Records

Fastest Lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 1:35.346s (2022)

Race Lap Record - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki 1:36.206s (2022) 

2021 Winners 

Race One - Scott Redding GBR Aruba.it Ducati 

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 

Race Two - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 

Razgatlioglu throws away Superpole race win after mistake on the final lap

Although no rain was scheduled, the third Superpole race of 2022 got underway on a damp track f🌞or the first time this season. Despite the tricky conditions, the front row of Rea, Razgatlioglu and Bautista elected for slick tyres as opposed to intermediates, as did most of the field. 

Iker Lecuona, Michael 🍨Rinaldi, Axel Bassani and Leandro Mercado were the only rider꧂s to choose intermediate tyres.

Looking to make a much 🉐improved start from pole compared to that of race one, Rea 𝄹once again lost out to Razgatlioglu. 

It 🍬was a slow start for Ba꧟utista as the Aruba.it Ducati rider lost third to Scott Redding. 

There were numerous fa🌟llers on lap one as L⛄ucas Mahias, Xavi Vierge and Marvin Fritz all suffered crashes. 

Eager to get back through on the BMW rider, Bautista used the powe✤r of his Panigale V4 R to blast past Redding iꦚnto turn one [lap two]. 

After getting a brilliant slingshot off turn 13, Rea too🌊k the lead well before t💙urn one while Vierge returned to pit lane following his early crash. 

As Bautista began to c💝lose in on the top two, the fastest rider on track was Lecuona as ♑the Spaniard began to smell a possible podium. 

Loris Baz, who finished third in warm-up, suffered a fast crash on lap four whic🉐h allowed team-mate Eugene꧅ Laverty into P8. 

Bonovo BMW’s Estoril Superpole race  then went fro🎃m bad to disaster as Laverty crashed on lap five. 

With Bautista now struggling for pace, Rea and Razgatlioglu gapped the championshܫip leader to the tune ༒of two seconds, as was the case for Lecuona who was now seven tenths behind Bautista. 

With just four laps to go, Razgatlioglu retook the lead after out-braking Rea at turn one. The Kawasaki rider attempted to hold strong 𝔍around the outside, however, it was a mistake from Rea as he ran wide.

With Laverty on his way to the m♐edical centre for a check-u🧜p, Razgatlioglu’s lead was now eight tenths as he began to show his pace.

Rea still had time to set a new fastest lap, but with Razgatliogluᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ matching the six-time world champion for performance, Rea was unable to close the gap. 

With victory seemingly in his pocket, Razgatlioglu made a huge error in sector three as h✅e nearly crashed at turn 10. 

The Yamaha rider remained aboard his R1 but not before Rea pounced at the chicane. Razgatlioglu attempted to fight back but Rea held on for a surprising victory, a victory that will frustrate the reigning wo💦rld champion even more given his failure to win race one.