It was a magnificent Magny-Cours weekend for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), as the Turkish rider was in mighty form for two wins in France. It was a brilliant Tissot Superpole Race victory and he profited from a collision between Ducati teammates Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, taking more points out of the reigning World Champion’s Championship lead. However, Race 2 saw the Spaniard retaliate, leaving Toprak to tussle it out over P2 with arch-rival and his 2024 replacement, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK).
A Race 1 win whilst Bautista was tenth offered a 19-point slash in one swoop, and Sunday morning likewise saw him take a further three points out the #1’s lead. Then, Race 2 saw him continue to be strong, going from pole position but not getting off to the best of starts. He dropped down to third at Turn 1, as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea got ahead before a red flag on Lap 5. During the restart, Razgatlioglu – now going from third – got up to second by the end of the opening lap and battled with his 2021 title rival, whilst Bautista scampered clear in the lead. On Lap 6, Rea got back ahead of Toprak, but six laps later, the Turkish rider responded, sparking a thrilling duel between the old foes in the final four laps of the race. Eventually, Razgatlioglu put in a stunning final lap to break clear, taking P2 as Rea rounded out the podium.
Both relished the battle, getting their elbows out, with Razgatlioglu saying: “We enjoyed battling with Jonny, but I needed P2. I’m waiting for the last lap, and I tried more than 100% here. In general, it’s not a bad weekend. Rea’s a WorldSBK legend and we are fighting with him. Many years ago, I had a dream that, one day, I’m World Champion like Kenan and fighting with Jonathan Rea. My dream came true. I’m very happy. I really enjoy fighting with the legend and I hope we are fighting again at Aragon.”
Forced to settle for P3 but much closer to P2 than at most parts of 2023, Rea could be happy about rekindling his rivalry with Toprak: “Sometimes the weekends go the opposite way round for me, I start really well in Race 1 then face some difficulties. This weekend, I felt like we had a really positive trend with setup changes we made to the bike and the feeling. I felt we ended the weekend on a high. Alvaro was up the road quite a bit, but I was able to fight Toprak until the last lap here at Magny-Cours, a really good track for him. I felt like I was playing with my bike again. Riding on the limit, understanding margins and I really enjoyed that. Big kudos to the team for making positive steps throughout the weekend.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com