Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s championship leader Alvaro Bautista claimed his second victory of the weekend in the final Motul FIM Superbike World Championship race of the weekend at Donington Park.
The Spaniard once more had to battle for his win, fighting his way past fellow champions Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu before pulling away.
At the original start, Bautista enjoyed yet another strong launch to lead to Redgate, only for Razgatlioglu to slip underneath exiting the corner to steal back the lead. But the race was immediately red flagged after a three-rider accident at Coppice involving Tom Sykes, Loris Baz and Michael Ruben Rinaldi. All riders were conscious afterwards.
Upon the restart, Bautista grabbed the lead again, while Rea passed pole sitter Razgatlioglu to take second. The Northern Irishman then attempted to snatch the lead from the Spaniard at the Old Hairpin, only to run deep, and did so again at the Melbourne Hairpin to allow Razgatlioglu back into second.
The Yamaha then moved into the lead on lap two with Razgatlioglu passing Bautista at the Melbourne Hairpin, with Rea following him through for good measure.
The top-three then lapped as one for much of the opening half of the contest, until Bautista resumed his charge by passing Rea at the Fogarty Esses on lap 10.
He then closed up instantly on Razgatlioglu, and went for the lead after blasting past down the Wheatcroft Straight starting lap 13, and moving up the inside at Redgate, only for the Yamaha to retake the position at the Old Hairpin.
Next time around it was a repeat scenario, but this time Bautista held the position through the Old Hairpin and established a lead which grew to 2.6 seconds by the flag.
Razgatlioglu claimed his third podium of the weekend with second place, while MotoGP race-winner Danilo Petrucci took a first WorldSBK podium in third after passing the Kawasaki’s of Alex Lowes and Rea in the closing laps.
Rea was beaten to fourth after a gripping battle with BMW’s Scott Redding, who claimed his best result of the season, with Rea settling for fifth ahead of Lowes. Axel Bassani, Andrea Locatelli and Garrett Gerloff who weren’t far behind in the squabble, with Philipp Oettl completing the top-10.
Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, Donington Park race two result:
1. Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, 22 laps
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK, +2.650s
3. Danilo Petrucci, Barni Spark Racing Team (Ducati), +7.936s
4. Scott Redding, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, +9.198s
5. Jonathan Rea, Kawsaski Racing Team WorldSBK, +9.506s
6. Alex Lowes, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK, +9.960s
7. Axel Bassani, Motocorsa Racing (Ducati), +10.292s
8. Andrea Locatelli, Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK, +10.537s
9. Garrett Gerloff, Bonovo Action BMW, +11.036s
10. Philipp Oettl, Team GoEleven (Ducati), +14.317s
Click here for full results.
The next major event at Donington Park is the Vintage Motorsport Festival on Sunday 9 July. Tickets are available in advance priced at £20 for adults with further discounted rates for teenagers and free entry for children under-13. Click here for more information.