2022 World Superbike Estoril, Portugal - Race Results (2)

Jonathan Rea beats Alvaro Bautista in a fantastic World Superbike last lap showdown in Estoril. 

For the third time in as many races from pole, Rea lost the lead to a fast-starting Razgatlioglu. 

As light rain began to fall, Rea immediately regained the lead at turn six, while Bautista did the same over Andrea Locatelli for third. 

That began a slide for Locatelli as Iker Lecuona and Alex Lowes both came through on the same lap one. 

Despite making his intentions clear by taking the lead, Rea was unable to break clear of both Razgatlioglu and Bautista. 

Surprisingly the top three quickly became a top six as Lowes started to look very racy indeed. The Kawasaki rider got through on Bautista for third before applying big pressure to Razgatlioglu. 

The top four then started to inch away from Locatelli who regained fifth place off of Lecuona. At the beginning of lap five Isaac Vinales suffered the first crash of the race.

Moments later Razgatlioglu finally made a move for the lead at turn one, an overtaking hotspot for much of the grid this weekend.

Unlike the Superpole race, Rea didn’t attempt to squeeze Razgatlioglu and subsequently run wide. Not for the first time this season and certainly not the last, Rea came back at Razgatlioglu in turn one to claim the lead. 

The next lap around and Bautista completed the same move on Lowes for third. But the Spaniard wasn’t done there. 

With 12 laps to go Bautista got a sensational run out of the final corner and passed both Razgatlioglu and Rea into turn one. 

Bautista and Rea exchanged the lead on another two occasions as the four-time race winners in 2022 were visibly on the limit.

With just under ten laps to go, Lowes lost touch with the front three who were getting increasingly closer. 

As hard as Rea tried, Bautista’s straight-line speed was proving too much for the six-time world champion. With Razgatlioglu out of contention in third, Rea started getting closer and closer as the final lap beckoned. 

With Bautista able to keep the lead into turn one, Rea’s chances were becoming more and more limited, however, the Northern Irishman pounced at turn nine. 

Despite a big moment at the final corner Rea held on for the win ahead of the Aruba.it Ducati rider. 

Estoril WorldSBK Records

Fastest Lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 1:35.346s (2022)

Race Lap Record - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki 1:36.206s (2022) 

2021 Winners 

Race One - Scott Redding GBR Aruba.it Ducati 

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 

Race Two - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 

Razgatlioglu throws away Superpole race win after mistake on the final lap

Although no rain was scheduled, the third Superpole race of 2022 got underway on a damp track for the first time this season. Despite the tricky conditions, the front row of Rea, Razgatlioglu and Bautista elected for slick tyres as opposed to intermediates, as did most of the field. 

Iker Lecuona, Michael Rinaldi, Axel Bassani and Leandro Mercado were the only riders to choose intermediate tyres.

Looking to make a much improved start from pole compared to that of race one, Rea once again lost out to Razgatlioglu. 

It was a slow start for Bautista as the Aruba.it Ducati rider lost third to Scott Redding. 

There were numerous fallers on lap one as Lucas Mahias, Xavi Vierge and Marvin Fritz all suffered crashes. 

Eager to get back through on the BMW rider, Bautista used the power of his Panigale V4 R to blast past Redding into turn one [lap two]. 

After getting a brilliant slingshot off turn 13, Rea took the lead well before turn one while Vierge returned to pit lane following his early crash. 

As Bautista began to close in on the top two, the fastest rider on track was Lecuona as the Spaniard began to smell a possible podium. 

Loris Baz, who finished third in warm-up, suffered a fast crash on lap four which allowed team-mate Eugene Laverty into P8. 

Bonovo BMW’s Estoril Superpole race  then went from bad to disaster as Laverty crashed on lap five. 

With Bautista now struggling for pace, Rea and Razgatlioglu gapped the championship leader to the tune of two seconds, as was the case for Lecuona who was now seven tenths behind Bautista. 

With just four laps to go, Razgatlioglu retook the lead after out-braking Rea at turn one. The Kawasaki rider attempted to hold strong around the outside, however, it was a mistake from Rea as he ran wide.

With Laverty on his way to the medical centre for a check-up, Razgatlioglu’s lead was now eight tenths as he began to show his pace.

Rea still had time to set a new fastest lap, but with Razgatlioglu matching the six-time world champion for performance, Rea was unable to close the gap. 

With victory seemingly in his pocket, Razgatlioglu made a huge error in sector three as he nearly crashed at turn 10. 

The Yamaha rider remained aboard his R1 but not before Rea pounced at the chicane. Razgatlioglu attempted to fight back but Rea held on for a surprising victory, a victory that will frustrate the reigning world champion even more given his failure to win race one.