WorldSBK Indonesia: Hat-trick for Razgatlioglu as Bautista secures the crown

Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu held off 2022 WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista in Sunday’s final race at Mandalika in Indonesia.

Second was more than enough for the Aruba.it Ducati rider to secure the title celebrations with Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea completing the podium from third.

Double race winner Razgatlioglu lined up on pole for the final action of the Indonesian weekend. Rea taking charge of the action from lights out with both Pata Yamaha riders Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli in hot pursuit.

Bautista challenged from fourth as the race bedded in. The championship leader less than a tenth off the podium sitters as the pace ignited, third enough to complete his title aspirations with a round in hand.

The Spaniard secured the required position by lap four, Locatelli sent wide after a tangle with Motocorsa’s Axel Bassani as the pair bickered for best of the rest with KRT’s Alex Lowes a second adrift in sixth.

Razgatlioglu pounced for the lead one lap later. The Yamaha rider immediately pulling a three tenth advantage as he hunted down a hat-trick before Bautista dispatched the Kawasaki down to third. Rea quickly came under pressure from the newly-crowned ‘Best Independent Rider’ with Bassani into podium contention with 14 to go.

The Kawasaki’s looked to be struggling as Lowes lost out further back. The Brit demoted to seventh at the hands of Honda’s Xavi Vierge with GRT Yamaha’s Garret Gerloff, BMW’s Scott Redding and the second Aruba of Michael Rinaldi completing the top ten.

Bassani was the man on the move as the race reached the halfway stage and the Ducati rider claimed the fastest lap. Rea hitting back for the final podium position as GRT’s Kohta Nozane crashed out.

Gerloff looked to challenge Vierge for