The battle for second place in Race 2 of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya went down to the wire during the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) fought it out. Rinaldi was ahead at the start of the final lap but Razgatlioglu was able to make up three seconds across the final three laps to snatch second place.

Rinaldi had surged up the order from eighth on the grid to be running behind teammate Alvaro Bautista, but the reigning Champion was able to pull away from Rinaldi as the race progressed. Rinaldi himself had looked like he was able to pull away from the chasing pack behind him, which was led by Razgatlioglu, but he dropped back towards the 2021 Champion in the final few laps and lost second position on the run to the line.

At the end of Lap 17, Rinaldi was almost three second clear of Razgatlioglu with just a couple of laps to go and this gap was maintained at the end of Lap 18. However, by the end of Lap 19, Razgatlioglu had pulled in a second with a lap time of a 1’44.029s, compared to Rinaldi’s 1’45.144s and, on Lap 20, the difference was even greater between their lap times. Razgatlioglu set a 1’43.711s while Rinaldi could only manage a 1’45.607s as Razgatlioglu pipped him through the final corner and on the run to the line.

Discussing the podium fight, Rinaldi said: “Toughest weekend of the year as from Friday, I had the speed to fight for the podium. Yesterday, what happened, happened, and then in the Superpole Race, I fought for the podium and then the rain came. In Race 2, I was second, but I finished the tyre and couldn’t stand up! I almost crashed in every right corner and that’s why Toprak had the opportunity to catch me and pass me. It’s OK, as yesterday I didn’t race, and I didn’t have the experience of the tyre or its drop. I didn’t have the strength in my hand to defend at the end of the race. It's OK to finish with a podium after all the ups and downs.”

Razgatlioglu is now on a run of nine consecutive podiums and has 11 rostrum visits from 12 races in WorldSBK, but he only has one win to his name which came in the Tissot Superpole Race at Mandalika. He sits 69 points back from Bautista in the Championship standings and he has a 34-point advantage over his teammate, Andrea Locatelli, who sits in third.

Discussing his second place finish, Razgatlioglu said: “I’m really happy. I was waiting until the last laps for Michael’s tyres to drop, but I’m surprised. I understand his tyres, in the last two laps, had a big drop. Normally, I’m waiting for the last three laps because I kept the rear tyre. Finally, I see him have a big drop. I’m pushing and I take second position at the last corner. Not like Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, I tried a different style! I took second position, and this is very good for me as I took three second positions and I took really good points for the Championship.”

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