WSBK Superbike Catalunya Superpole Race: Van der Mark wins, Rea increases his championship lead

De Paolo Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Michael van der Mark took the lead over Jonathan Rea in the sprint, but the Cannibal increased his Championship lead over Scott Redding, who fell to eighth position. Álvaro Bautista fell violently.

Michael van der Mark won the sixth Superpole race of the 2020 season, ending Jonathan Rea's winning streak. But the Kawasaki rider, with a second place, increases his lead by another seven points over Scott Redding who fell to eighth position. The Ducati rider is now 48 points from the top of a World Championship, whose crown is inexorably slipping away.

Spectacular fall for Bautista

The decisive episode of the race took place on the third lap, when Alvaro Bautista suffered a violent highside immediately after taking command of operations. With the Honda Fireblade, the Spaniard made a very fast start in the center of the first row, inheriting the second place vacated following the injury to Toprak Razgatlioglu during the warmup. Bautista was very fast, he could have aimed for his first victory with HRC. Instead, because of his fall, he forced Jonathan Rea to brake hard to avoid him, so Van Der Mark was able to take a lead of six to seven tenths which the Cannibal was unable to recover. With Scott Redding struggling, that’s great for Kawasaki…

Bautista ended up at the circuit's medical center, accompanied by teammate Leon Haslam who collided with Federico Caricasulo. Álvaro fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot but will be able to start Race 2.

Van der Mark: A game of poker

For Michael van der Mark, it is the fourth world victory of his career, he who had not won since race 2 in Jerez in June 2019. The podium was completed by the other Yamaha of Loris Baz, who moved up the slope after Saturday's negative performance.

Best result of his career, fifth, for the young Garrett Gerloff: In Montmeló, the American from the Yamaha GRT team is doing very well. Ducati struggled with the super soft tire: Chaz Davies was (partially) classified fourth, while Michael Rinaldi finished sixth. Inexplicable on the side of Scott Redding, who started badly and with this choice of tire was unable to move up the standings, finishing with almost ten seconds of difference. Race 2 today is postponed until 15 p.m. and with the track much warmer, a lot can change.

Toprak Razgatlioglu injured during warmup

Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed at turn 13 on the first lap of warmup earlier this morning. The Yamaha rider was taken to the circuit's medical center, where doctors diagnosed chest bruising and problems with his right ankle. He will not start the two races today. He was taken to Barcelona hospital for further examination. It was not a particularly lucky weekend for the Turkish driver, who from the first corner of race 1 was pushed back by Michael van der Mark – his teammate – losing contact with the best.

Superpole Race Ranking:

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Paul Gozzi