Toprak Wins his Eleventh Race of the 2022 Season After a Heated Last Lap Battle with Alvaro Bautista.

As we go into the Superpole Sprint race Alvaro Bautista has extended his lead over his main rival Toprak Razgatlioglu after the Turkish rider crashed out of race one on the first lap, a rare mistake from the reigning World Superbike champion.

Toprak was on pole position; Jonathan Rea was in second place and Alvaro was in third place for the start of the Superpole Sprint race. The weather at the San Juan Villicum circuit was considerably warmer than yesterday. The riders tyre choice for the Sprint race was the SCX.

Toprak was first into turn one, Loris Baz had a strong start getting into sixth place. Toprak was trying to pull away from the clutches of Rea, but the Kawasaki rider wasn’t letting Toprak make the break. Bautista was closing in on the leading duo, Michael Ruben Rinaldi was in fifth.

Rea took the lead at turn six after two laps, Toprak was staying with Rea looking to make his move to reclaim the first place. With six laps to go Bautista lost ground on Rea and Toprak, podium finisher Axel Bassani was in eighth place.

Rea made a mistake at turn one on lap six, he ran way wide, he lost two critical positions and was now in third place handing the lead back to Toprak. Alex Lowes, Rinaldi and Iker Lecuona were dicing for fourth place.

Bautista was closing in on Toprak with four laps to go, Rea was in third place. Alvaro tried to pass Toprak, but the Spaniard couldn’t make the move stick. The pair were swopping positions throughout lap nine, as Rea was catching the leading duo. On the final lap Toprak was leading and riding very defensive, he wasn’t giving up on the victory!

Toprak crossed the line to take his 11th win of the season, Bautista was second, Rea finished in third place, Rinaldi was fourth, Lowes was fifth.

Toprak is on pole position for race two, can the Turkish rider do a repeat performance and secure another race win?

Featured Images: Yamaha Racing, WorldSBK.com.