The suspense is at its height more than ever in Superbike, as the championship enters its home straight. Tied on points, Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu indeed see Scott Redding coming back on their heels, author of a solid weekend in Navarre and who has relaunched himself in the rankings.
It's been a long time since Superbike had such a close championship! Landing in Navarre for the seventh round of the season with only three points separating them, Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu indeed leave back to back, tied on points.
Enough to book a thrilling second part of the championship, especially since Scott Redding seems determined to come and take part in the party. The Ducati rider, who will join the ranks of BMW next year, indeed scored two new successes this weekend, during Race 1 and the Superpole Race, or three consecutive victories if we include his triumph during the last event contested on the Most circuit, in the Czech Republic.
🦸🏻♂️Super Stoprak: the clown-prince of #WorldSBK
It just never gets old!@toprak_tr54 @PataYamahaBRIXX #NavarraWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/CrO4HIMz77
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) August 22
Redding in good momentum
Because if Rea and Razgatlioglu – who won Race 2 in Spain this afternoon – occupy the lead in the general classification (the two total 311 points), number 45 saw its delay disappear from 50 to 38 points, and can have legitimate claims for the end of the season if the trend continues, and leave Ducati in the best possible way during November.
RESPECT after the thrilling fight⚔️#NavarraWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/lyK5nPbPHz
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) August 22
However, there is still a long way to go, this seventh round constituting the pivot of the season, namely the seventh out of a total of 13 on the calendar. And if Rea has certainly not won since his hat-trick achieved at Assen at the end of July, the Northern Irishman still offered good resistance in each of the races contested in Navarre, not to mention his seventh Superpole in a row obtained on Saturday morning , which allowed him to equal, for the moment, the record of a certain Ben Spies dating from 2009.
And everything indicates that the Kawasaki rider will pose a serious threat during the next round, which will take place in France in two weeks, at Magny-Cours. The defending champion had indeed won twice last year on the Nivernais track, leaving the benefit of Race 2 to… Redding (we will also not forget to mention the fact that Razgatlioglu had also signed a double in 2019 in France).
Locatelli in the top 5
Behind the three leaders, Alex Lowes retains fourth place, after another very discreet performance, without a false note but not flamboyant either. The surprise, however, comes from Andrea Locatelli. For his first season in Superbike, the young Italian continues to impress, this time with remarkable consistency at the front.
Because if he did not manage to get on the podium this weekend, Razgatlioglu's teammate at Pata Yamaha ensured the acquisition of fourth place each time (we will remind here that he also had the merit of setting the best time during FP3). A formidable efficiency which now allows him to jump from eighth to fifth place in the championship.
He is now ahead of his compatriot Michael Ruben Rinaldi by only a small point, while Tom Sykes and Garrett Gerloff then follow, the latter who takes the opposite path in the ranking, falling from sixth to eighth place. For the rest, the positions are unchanged from ninth place.
Situations also tight among manufacturers and teams
If the stakes are therefore far from being made in the drivers' championship, it is the same among the manufacturers: Only nine points separate Ducati (334 points), new leader, from Kawasaki (325 points), with Yamaha finding itself halfway path (331 points). Among the teams, however, the Kawasaki Racing Team preserved its first position, but saw the Pata Yamaha team come back within a few strides, the gap separating them having gone from 27 to 18 units.
Finally, in the Supersport category, Dominique Aegerter seems to have taken a serious option for the title this season, after winning two new victories after two close fights against Steven Odendaal. This now brings his lead in the championship to 47 points, almost the equivalent of two victories. The Swiss therefore currently holds the accounting, but undoubtedly also the psychological, ascendancy over his opponent now.
