Toprak Razgatlioglu romps to biggest victory in Donington Park WorldSBK race one

Toprak Razgatlioglu not only extended his longest-ever WorldSBK win streak to five in a row in race one at Donington Park but did it with his biggest ever victory margin.

After turning pole into the holeshot, Razgatlioglu unleashed his superior pace and broke clear.

The BMW star's lead reached 11.384 seconds, giving him plenty of time to think about a Marc Marquez-style swimming motion across the finish line and then a mock penalty ticket on the slowdown lap.

"Toprak was in his own race," Alex Lowes acknowledged afterwards.

Behind Razgatlioglu, the battle was more intense, with Lowes a key player.

Nicolo Bulega, second to Razgatlioglu on the grid and in the world championship standings, dropped to fourth on lap 1 behind Scott Redding and Andrea Locatelli. 

The Ducati rider re-passed the pair after four laps, directing Redding down an escape road at the Esses in the process.

Meanwhile, Alex Lowes swiftly recovered from ninth on the grid, due to a deleted qualifying lap, to chase down Redding and Bulega by the middle stages.

Redding put up stubborn resistance for third but the Kawasaki rider pounced when his countryman ran wide at half-distance. 

Lowes promptly set his sights on Bulega and completed an impressive comeback by sealing second place. 

Ducati team-mate and reigning champion Alvaro Bautista rolled the dice by fitting the soft rear tyre and fought through from 11th, after losing his best qualifying lap to track limits, to catch and pass Redding for fourth.

With Bulega something of a sitting duck in the final laps, Bautista duly claimed third place and the final place on the podium.

Redding had again been sent wide during the Bautista pass but worse was to follow when he pulled off and parked his M1000RR due to a technical problem with 4 laps to go.

Sam Lowes turned a strong fourth on the grid into an early appearance in the lead group but later dropped outside the top ten, then was squeezed into the Old Hairpin gravel trap by contact from Remy Gardner.

Jonathan Rea progressed from eighth on the grid to fifth at the flag, equalling his best finish of the season and crossing the line as the top Yamaha rider.

Razgatlioglu will now take a 33-point lead over Bulega and Bautista, now tied for second, into Sunday morning's Superpole race.