Superbikes | Estoril Round, Race1: Redding Triumphs ahead of Razgatlioglu and Rea

At the Estoril Circuit we witnessed a spectacular Race 1 of the Gaerne Estoril Round, which ended with the victory of Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), the second for the English rider this season.

Redding and Rea get off to a great start: the Ducati rider takes the lead, then it's Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) who overtakes the world champion to take second place. Redding and Razgatlioglu pulled away at the end of the first lap while Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) battled with Rea for a place on the podium. The world champion opts for the SC0 tire unlike Redding and Razgatlioglu who choose the SCX.
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) with the SC0 is one of the six who decides to mount this tire and on the first lap he goes from seventh to fifth place before slipping back a little and arriving at the finish line in 13th place.

Rea with his SC0 in the final stages of the race puts pressure on Razgatlioglu who however manages to resist the Northern Irish driver's attacks.
Redding wins two races in a row for the first time while Rea takes the podium for the 189th time in his WorldSBK career. This is Kawasaki's first podium at Estoril since 1993.

Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in fourth place thanks to overtaking Rinaldi in the final stages. The Rimini rider precedes Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) at the checkered flag.
The Dutchman Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) with his new BMW M 1000 RR finished seventh ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), who started from 18th place. Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) brings home his best result in WorldSBK with ninth place today while Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) enters the top ten.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), the youngest on the grid, despite the time canceled in Superpole, managed to finish the race in 11th position. For the Venetian rider it is the best result of his career in WorldSBK. Five seconds behind him comes Leon Haslam (Team HRC) who finishes ahead of Mahias and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). The last to enter the points is Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who precedes Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action).

Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), making his WorldSBK debut at Estoril, is 17th while Eugene Laverty (RC Squadra Corse) – who started 13th and after recovering several positions – lost the front of his BMW M 1000 RR at Turn 4 while battling with van der Mark. He fell far behind but still managed to stay in the race. On the ninth lap at turn 7 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), starting from tenth place, fell and like Laverty took the checkered flag ahead of Loris Cresson (TPR Team Pedercini Racing).
Samuele Cavalieri (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) also crashed at turn 7 and was forced to retire like Christophe Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha).

Below are the top ten of Race 1:

1.Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2.Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +0.877
3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.915
4.Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +9.518
5.Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +13.636
6.Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) +17.177
7. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
8.Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC)
9.Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team)
10.Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK)