Toprak Razgatlioglu: 'Somebody else decided we did not win'

Toprak Razgatlioglu thought he had completed a perfect Magny-Cours triple to extend his World Superbike championship lead to 13-points over Jonathan Rea.

However, tipped off by Rea, Kawasaki successfully protested the result of the Sunday morning Superpole outing when on-board footage revealed Razgatlioglu had strayed over a white line and onto the prohibited green area during the final lap.

Whilst the images showed that the Turkish star had indeed breached track limits by skimming the green paint at Turn 10, in order for a penalty to be given the offending rider must also fail to show a 'clear disadvantage' compared to a rival who stays on track during a last lap battle.

That judgement was more controversial since Rea then overtook Razgatlioglu at the following corner. It would seem reasonable to suggest that losing a position directly after exceeding track limits fits the criteria of a 'clear disadvantage' and therefore no penalty should be applied.

Razgatlioglu went on to snatch the race lead and victory back from Rea when he re-passed the Northern Irishman in the final corners.

However, after Sunday's second race had finished, the morning race result was revised with Rea declared as the winner and Razgatlioglu demoted to runner-up.

“This was my dream – to make three wins together in one weekend, and I am really happy. Okay, somebody else decided we did not win the Superpole Race but for me, I won the race and I enjoy this fight a lot," Razgatlioglu said.

"We did everything we can so also big thanks to my team because they did an incredible job.

"I am not looking at the championship because I am always focused every race for win and for good points, and also this race, I try only to win. Finally again we made a great win in Race 2 and I am really happy today.”

The change in the Superpole result means Razgatlioglu's advantage over reigning champion Rea has been reduced to seven points.

"The protest after the Superpole Race was very disappointing, as was the process of administrating the protest and the very late timing of the sanction notice, but in the end we know what we achieved, our competitors know what we achieved and we move on," said Pata Yamaha team principal Paul Denning.

Meanwhile 3-4-4 results mean Razgatlioglu's team-mate Andrea Locatelli is fourth in the world championship, ten points ahead of Rea's team-mate Alex Lowes.

Denning confirmed that the young Italian's form means he will be staying alongside Razgatlioglu in 2022. "We didn’t make a formal announcement yet, but he will be with us next year," Denning said.