The mercurial Toprak Razgatlioglu continued his sublime form, winning the Superpole race at the Czech WSBK on Sunday.
The Turkish sensation beat everyone down to the first corner on his Yamaha, leading Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista. Scott Redding had a nightmare start, slipping down to 14th, while Axel Bassani moved up four places to fifth and set his sights on Micahel Ruben Rinaldi's Ducati.
The top five riders began to put some distance between them and the chasing pack. Razgatlioglu set a new lap record on the third lap, putting daylight ahead of Rea.
Further back, Alex Lowes lost the front at turn ten, sliding out of the race altogether.
The relentlessly pursuing Rea managed to put significant pressure on his rival Razgatlioglu, eventually passing him with three laps to go. The duo swapped positions twice more in an epic battle but Rea lost it on the final lap, being forced wide and taking a treacherous journey through the gravel.
Luckily, the Kawasaki rider managed to rejoin in second, albeit with Bautista breathing down his neck as they crossed the finish line. For Razgatlioglu, the win marked his fifth in three rounds, edging ever closer to second place Rea and leader Bautista in the riders' standings.
Rinaldi held on to fourth, followed by Bassani. Redding recovered well to blast his BMW into eighth place.
Superpole results
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK 10 Laps
2 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +2.327s
3 Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +3.406s
4 Michael Rinaldi ITA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +4.679s
5 Axel Bassani ITA Motocorsa Ducati +7.127s
6 Andrea Locatelli ITA PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +8.328s
7 Iker Lecuona SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +8.479s
8 Scott Redding GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +10.308s
9 Garrett Gerloff USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team +10.506s
10 Xavi Vierge SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +14.540s
11 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW +14.634s
12 Lucas Mahias FRA Puccetti Kawasaki +14.760s
13 Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati +15.271s
14 Luca Bernardi SM Barni Spark Ducati Team +18.008s
15 Hafizh Syahrin MAL MIE Honda Racing +24.394s
16 Kohta Nozane JPN GRT Yamaha +24.574s
17 Leandro Mercado ARG MIE Honda Racing +24.891s
18 Eugene Laverty IRL Bonovo Action BMW +26.956s
19 Peter Hickman GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +28.649s
20 Roberto Tamburini ITA Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team +35.860s