WSBK Superbike Mandalika Race 1: Razgatlıoğlu 2021 Superbike World Champion!

The Turkish rider certainly did not win in the first Superbike race run on the Mandalika circuit, but he did what was necessary to no longer be joined in the general classification. It thus puts an end to the domination of Jonathan Rea, who had reigned over the category since 2015.

This time, it will have happened! Postponed for 24 hours due to severe bad weather which hit the new Mandalika route yesterday, Race 1 finally kept all its promises, even if we believed that history was going to repeat itself when the Race Direction had to try twice to get the start, again due to the weather conditions.

The takeoff finally took place a quarter of an hour late, and saw Jonathan Rea, qualified in second position on the grid, take the holeshot at the first corner while his rival for the title and poleman in Indonesia, Toprak Razgatlioglu completed the first lap in third position behind Scott Redding. The three drivers, who already shared the first row on the starting grid, did not let go of each other, offering one of the most spectacular races of this 2021 season!

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Fierce fight on the track between the three strong men of the championship

On a track that was drying out, the three men in fact increased their skirmishes to exchange their respective positions on numerous occasions. Axel Bassani, qualified on the seventh position on the grid and still in the running for the status of best independent driver at the end of the championship, was also invited at the start of the race in the fight for first place , seizing the lead for a few moments before losing his footing and falling to fifth position behind Rookie of the Year, Andrea Locatelli.

 

 

From then on, the stage was set for a three-way battle for victory. We will not go into detail here about the plethora of overtakes which took place, most of them in a completely fair manner and which gave this spectacular character to this first event contested by Superbike in Indonesia since 1997.

In these conditions, Rea was nevertheless condemned to win the race without Razgatlıoğlu doing better than third to preserve his title chances until Race 2. In this sense, the Kawasaki rider believed he was keeping his bet when the Turc went wide a few laps from the end, falling to third position. But the latter got back to work to come back to scrape with his opponents, until regaining the advantage over Redding four laps from the goal to gain second place.

 

 

A position that he would maintain until the finish to be crowned and put an end to Rea's streak of six consecutive titles, which had lasted since 2015. With a 25-point lead and only one race left, Razgatlıoğlu can no longer be joined in the championship by his opponent, and can now enjoy the fruits of a masterfully led season.

 

Bassani puts pressure on Gerloff among the independents

As we have said, Redding completes the podium of this Race 1, while the Italians Andrea Locatelli and Axel Bassani complete the top 5. Michael van der Mark takes sixth place under the checkered flag, while Álvaro Bautista finished in seventh position ahead of Chaz Davies, Leandro Mercado and Tom Sykes in the top 10.

Garrett Gerloff, for his part, was unable to do better than 11th, and thus lost six points in the championship against Bassani, his rival for the title of best independent driver. Only eight points still separate the two men with only one event remaining. We can also note the 12th place of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, while the Frenchman Christophe Ponsson was forced to retire.

 

Mandalika Superbike – Race 1:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com