Portimao WorldSBK Race (2) Results: Bautista denies Razgatlioglu hat-trick

Alvaro Bautista denies Toprak Razgatlioglu a second WorldSBK hat-trick of the 2022 campaign with victory in race two. 

After his success in the Superpole race, Razgatlioglu started the final race of the weekend from pole and made a great start as he led into turn one.

However, Razgatlioglu's lead didn't last long as Jonathan Rea immediately challenged the Yamaha rider into turn five. 

Like the Superpole race, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Alex Lowes showed strong pace early on in order to stay with the leading trio. 

There was an early tumble for Lucas Mahias as the Puccetti Kawasaki rider went down at turn five. 

Bautista lost significant time on lap three after suffering a big wobble over the hill at turn nine. But the Ducati rider quickly regained his composure as he closed back in on lap four.

A strong weekend for Axel Bassani came to a disappointing end as he crashed out of race two on lap four.

With the leading pace not quick enough for his liking, Razgatlioglu subsequently made a move on Rea at the beginning of lap seven to take the lead.

Not going down without a fight, Rea responded heading into turn one on lap eight, however, Razgatlioglu performed a lovely switchback in order to reclaim the lead. 

Not able to respond this time around, Razgatlioglu was then dropped from first to third as Bautista slid into second spot at the start of lap nine. 

A third consecutive lead change took place on lap ten as Bautista finally found his way to the front of the field. 

With Bautista slowly edging clear, Razgatlioglu knew he had to get through on Rea which he did at turn one, the same corner where all the previous lead changes took place. 

Battling with Scott Redding for seventh place, Team HRC rider Iker Lecuona suffered a crash with just seven laps remaining.

Desperate to fight back against Bautista, Razgatlioglu sprung a surprise move at turn 14 before Bautista used the incredible power of his Ducati to get back ahead on the start-finish straight. 

With Bautista still lapping within a tenth of the fastest lap of the race, Razgatlioglu was finally starting to struggle with the Spaniard’s pace as an eight tenths lead was opened up. 

With three laps to go Bautista’s lead broke the one second margin for the first time in the race.

Portimao WorldSBK Records: 

Lap record: Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 1:39.610s

2021 Portimao Winners:

Race 1: Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha

Superpole Race: Michael Van Der Mark NED BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team

Race 2: Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team

2022 Portimao Winners 

Race 1: Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha

Superpole Race: Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha

Race 2: Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati

Two riders making their final appearances of the season at Portimao are Ponsson and Roberto Tamburini as the pair won’t be participating in the non-European rounds in Argentina, Indonesia and Australia.

Luca Bernardi is also making his final appearance of the season after being dropped by Barni Racing Ducati for the final three races. Bernardi will move back to WorldSSP with CM Racing Ducati, as Xavi Fores is set to replace him for the remainder of the season. 

Bassani has signed a new deal at Motocorsa Ducati, taking the tally of confirmed WorldSBK riders for 2023 up to 18.

Portimao Weekend Schedule:

Friday 

Free Practice 1: 10:30-11:15

Free Practice 2: 15:00-15:45

Saturday

Free Practice 3: 09:00-09:30

Superpole: 11:10-11:25

Race 1: 14:00

Sunday 

Warm-up: 09:00-09:15

Superpole Race: 11:00

Race 2: 14:00