The first race day in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in the 2023 Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round was a thrilling affair with incredible battles for the podium places. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) went head-to-head for second place with the order of the podium not settled until the very last lap, when Razgatlioglu made a move on Rea.

Although Razgatlioglu passed Rea at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 17, the final lap in a shortened Race 1 following a red flag in the original start, the pair were barely separated as they battled hard for second place throughout the last lap. Razgatlioglu’s move came at Turn 1 under braking into the right-hander but he had a huge moment when braking as he made the move on the six-time World Champion.

Rea tried to respond into Turn 3 as he moved to the outside of the track before trying to cut back through the long right-hander of Turn 3. 2021 Champion Razgatlioglu held on but ran a bit wide into Turn 4, giving Rea the chance to look up the inside but, again, the Turkish rider was just able to stay ahead. Rea got close to the back of Razgatlioglu’s bike through Turn 9 leading onto the back straight as well as looking like he’d make a move into Turn 10, but he was unable to get through, meaning Razgatlioglu held onto second place.

Looking back on the battle, Razgatlioglu said: “In the race, I enjoyed it as we’re not riding on the limit to keep the rear tyre. I am very happy to be riding with the legend, and this is good as we forget about Alvaro as he’s very strong at this track. I enjoyed it with Jonny and I was waiting until the last lap, but also I was on the limit on the last lap as the tyres had a big drop. I just tried to get the best position. I got ahead of Jonny on the last lap and tried to take the best line. I am happy with P2. I tried hard braking but with the strong winds, it wasn’t easy to get the bike to stop. The front tyre didn’t have good grip in the final lap, but I tried my best like in every race. We didn’t feel good at the start of the weekend, but I am happy now.”

Rea’s podium gave him his fourth of the 2023 campaign and he looked back on his battle with Razgatlioglu after the race. He said: “It’s always difficult when you see ‘0.1 Toprak’ on the pit board! Not just one lap but every lap! In the beginning, I was happy behind Bassani and Rinaldi but as soon as they lost track position, I was on my own at the front and it’s difficult to understand a strategy race like that. When you’re at the front, I was trying to set a rhythm, pulling away from those behind but not pushing too hard to kill my tyre. Toprak came by on the final lap but I could turn inside him at Turn 3 and Turn 4. I have to thank the guys at KRT as we have good rear traction, we just need to improve in the stopping area in the latter stages with the front tyre. In Superpole, with the softer option front, the bike felt amazing and it was turning on a sixpence.”

Watch the incredible last-lap fight at the top of this article and see more incredible WorldSBK action using the WorldSBK VideoPass!