Superbike – Estoril – Race 1: Redding, start to finish!

The Ducati rider took control of Race 1 from the start and never let go. Behind him, an epic duel between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, which ultimately turned to the advantage of the first city.

Initially, it is therefore Scott Redding who jumped from his second position on the grid to achieve the holeshot, much to the chagrin of Jonathan Rea, which widened its trajectory in the first corner and let it rush into it Toprak Razgatlioglu.

The Turkish driver, winner twice here last year, had gained a position on the grid and thus started from third position following the penalty imposed on alex lowes shortly after the Superpole. The Kawasaki rider had in fact seen his best lap canceled for having ignored the presence of yellow flags during his fast lap.

 

 

Quickly, several distinct battles emerged at the front of the peloton, first and foremost that for the race lead, which pitted Redding against Razgatlioglu. The two men were able to escape from Rea, the latter too busy repelling the attacks of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, in much better shape than last week in Aragón.

 

 

Too busy until mid-race, when the Ducati rider began to drop his pace in front of the opposition displayed by his opponent from Kawasaki. Freed of his rival, Rea was then able to concentrate on the two drivers in front of him. Ten laps and a big second to make up: these were the terms of the contract to be fulfilled for the six-time World Champion, who hastened to put the work into practice.

A few laps later and it was a real three-way battle for the final victory that Race 1 at Estoril offered us. A first blow was thus delivered by Rea to Razgatlioglu at the start of the 19th lap, but the Turk managed to stay in front at the cost of heavy braking of which he has the secret.

 

Summary of the results of the 2020 edition:

WSBK Superbike Estoril	October 2020	May 2021
FP1	1'37.181 Scott Redding	1'36.920 Toprak Razgatlioglu
FP2	1'36.886 Scott Redding	1'37.284 Toprak Razgatlioglu
FP3	1'36.770 Scott Redding	1'36.389 Scott Redding
Super poles	1'36.154 Toprak Razgatlioglu	1'35.876 Jonathan Rea
Race 1	Razgatlioglu, Davies, Gerloff	Redding, Razgatlioglu, Rea
Warm Up	1'36.424 Toprak Razgatlioglu
Superpole race	Razgatlioglu, Gerloff, Van der Mark
Race 2	Davies, Redding, Razgatlioglu
All time lap record	1'36.154 Toprak Razgatlioglu

 

Three drivers for one victory

The pressure then only increased between the two belligerents, playing into the hands of Redding who was not asking for much to escape and protect himself from any last minute comeback. The same maneuver for the same result happened again in the last lap, and it was ultimately Razgatlioglu who had the last word.

Behind the leading trio, Garrett gerloff led a very solid race, getting the better of Rinaldi on the 18th lap, to take fourth place at the finish. Big race also from Chaz Davies who, starting from the depths of the ranking, was able to lead his boat to sixth place.

 

 

Crossed destinies at BMW

Among the good surprises also, we can mention Michael van der Mark : The Dutchman had had a difficult weekend so far, handicapped by a mechanical breakdown during FP1 which had reduced his running to nothing (four laps in fact). But the BMW driver showed that he had resourcefulness, reaching tenth position from the very first cables, before continuing his progress to snatch seventh place at the finish.

Quite the opposite of his teammate Tom Sykes, who only slipped in the hierarchy to finish in a very distant 14th position, behind Lucas Mahias. The Frenchman can bite his fingers after a brisk start to the race which saw him move into fifth position for a while. Alas, the 2017 Supersport World Champion was unable to keep up the pace and slowly but surely fell down the hierarchy to finish outside the top 10.

First top 10 for Rabat

In eighth place we find Alvaro Bautista, author of a very good race after a complicated start to the weekend for him too. He is ahead Tito Rabat who obtained his first top 10 in the category after delivering a discreet but solid and no-nonsense race.

 

 

What about Lowes? Starting from seventh place following his penalty, the Englishman first made a good comeback to fifth position, before making a mistake on the ninth lap by losing the front in turn 7. Number 22 will be able to regret his mistake, which made him lose track of the championship against his teammate. He will nevertheless try to make up for it during the next two Superbike races scheduled for tomorrow.

 

– Estoril – Race 1 Results:

Credit classification and photos: WorldSBK.com