Razgatlioglu claims birthday victory at San Juan, Rea second

Toprak Razgatlioglu has extended his WorldSBK championship lead by a further five points after dominating race one at San Juan. 

The Pata Yamaha rider took the lead from pole sitter Scott Redding heading into turn one, which ended up being the last his competitors saw of him. 

Razgatlioglu, who had around half a second on the field throughout free practice, pulled clear of Jonathan Rea by two seconds in just three laps. 

Like Razgatlioglu, Rea also managed to get ahead of Redding early on as the Ducati rider crashed on the exit of turn one - lap one.

While each victory is sure to be a special one, especially given the epic duel between Razgatlioglu and Rea this season, today’s win for the Yamaha man comes on a day in which he and team-mate Andrea Locatelli are celebrating their 25th birthday.

"This weekend we are very strong! Also, Friday I say I need to win at this track because in 2019 I saw just third place," said Razgatlioglu following his race one success. 

"I’m really happy today and a big thanks to my team because they did an amazing job this weekend. 

"Also it is my birthday today so it was a fantastic day for me. Tomorrow we will try more and we will see." 

For the Razgatlioglu’s title rival Rea, it was a day where consolidating second place and the 20 points available was a must. 

The Kawasaki rider alluded to having had ‘no regrets’, but that his FP2 spill cost him the chance to further improve the bike - something he aims to do for Sunday’s double header. 

"I made a really good getaway and just tried to do my rhythm; tried to forget about the guys at the front," added Rea. 

"Of course, Toprak had an incredible pace, so I just tried to focus on myself. I really made a big mistake yesterday and lost all of FP2, so this race was about research for tomorrow let’s say. 

"But, no regrets, I did my best out there and hopefully tomorrow we can make some changes to be a little bit closer to the front."