MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

World Superbike race two started under indecisive weather. Twenty laps that were at risk of rain with a starting temperature of a cool 22ºC. The weekend attendance was 32,140.

Alvaro Bautista led Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael Ruben Rinaldi into turn one with Andrea Locatelli behind them. Jonathan Rea was in tenth place but closed his way back to eighth place in a couple of turns. At turn five, the slowest turn of the track, Razgatlioglu took the lead from Bautista as rain was reported in sector one, but it didn't stick around.

Lap two, Bautista and Rinaldi powered past Razgatlioglu down the long straight into turn one, and Alex Lowes threatened to push him back to fourth, but Razgatlioglu held third on the brakes. Lowes took third into turn four, putting Razgatlioglu ahead of his Yahama teammate Andrea Locatelli.

Alvaro Bautista set a 1'42.446 as Lowes took second place from Rinaldi and Rea took sixth place from Xavi Vierge to join Locatelli and Razgatlioglu near the front.

Bautista improved his pace on lap three but Alex Lowes set a fastest lap of 1'42.158 in second place ahead of Rinaldi, Razgatlioglu, Locatelli and Rea. A lap later, Bautista responded with a 1'41.730, taking a second lead over Rinaldi who powered past Lowes before turn one of lap five. Bautista kept the hammer down and stretched his lead to well over a second by lap six. Rea led Locatelli into turn one, but he went too deep and Locatelli passed him back into turn two in the fight for fifth.

Lap seven and Rinaldi was over a second clear of Razgatlioglu and Lowes with Razgatlioglu taking third place into turn one. Axel Bassani, such a threat in race one, was back in twelfth place. Razgatlioglu, Lowes, Locatelli and Rea were covered by under a second as Bautista and Rinaldi, separated by two seconds, were two seconds clear in front of them.

Under a second behind Jonathan Rea, on lap nine, Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona, Garrett Gerloff, Dominique Aegerter and Danilo Petrucci were a in a close group from seventh to eleventh, almost two seconds clear of Bassani and Scott Redding. Gerloff was the quickest rider in the group in tenth place.

At half race distance, Alvaro Bautista led his Ducati teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi by over three seconds with Toprak Razgatlioglu, Alex Lowes, Andrea Locatelli, Jonathan Rea and Xavi Vierge over three seconds behind in a battle for third place. At the start of lap thirteen, Bautista led Rinaldi by over four seconds with Razgatlioglu just under four seconds further back. The group from Razgatlioglu to Aegerter, from third to ninth, was covered by just three seconds at the start of lap fourteen, as the Ducatis at the front ran away with it. Jonathan Rea snuck past Locatelli in turn five, the only change in the tight group for a while. Rea started lap fifteen under a second and a half off his Kawasaki teammate Alex Lowes.

Fifteen laps down, Bautista led Rinaldi by six seconds with Razgatlioglu three and a half seconds further back. Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea had a second gap between each other and Razgatlioglu but Locatelli, Vierge, Aegerter, Lecuona and Gerloff held on to Rea with Petrucci not much further back.

Lowes and Rea were lapping at the same pace as the tyres started to go off with Razgatlioglu almost two seconds clear with three laps left. Two laps to go, Bautista, Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu looked settled in podium positions and Rea was quicker than Lowes but not quick enough to close the gap on the penultimate lap. Rea was clear of Locatelli and Vierge who were fighting over sixth place, with Vierge taking sixth from Locatelli down the straight to start the last lap. World Supersport and MotoE champion Dominique Aegerter couldn't catch Locatelli on the last lap and had to settle for eighth place.

On the last lap, Toprak Razgatlioglu lapped almost two seconds quicker than Michael Ruben Rinaldi and set himself up for a challenge out of the last corner.

Alvaro Bautista coasted across the line, winning by over eight seconds, but behind him, having more tyre left on the last turn, Toprak Razgatlioglu took a tighter and faster line on the exit of the last corner and, nodding furiously, he took second place six hundredths of a second ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi. Rinaldi's third place was eight places ahead of the Thorn in his side, Axel Bassani. Alex Lowes held off Jonathan Rea with Vierge, Locatelli and Aegerter rounding out the top eight.

Alvaro Bautista took pole position, fastest lap and all three wins of the weekend, extending his championship lead to sixty nine points from Toprak Razgatlioglu. Razgatlioglu took Yamaha's four hundredth podium and Razgatlioglu's ninth consecutive podium. Rinaldi held the podium, but his rear tyre cost him second place, his crash yesterday costing him data on how the tyre lasts over race distance.

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