Rea crashes twice as Razgatlioglu wins in Hungary

BBC News

26-07-2025

Jonathan Rea crashed twice in Saturday's opening World Superbike race of the weekend in Hungary as Toprak Razgatlioglu won to increase his advantage at the top of the championship standings.It was a seventh straight race win for the Turkish rider, who had taken his BMW to successive hat-tricks at the and Misano and Donington rounds to assume the series lead.The first attempt to run Saturday's race was halted after a crash involving seven riders at the opening chicane, but when the restart got under way it was Razgatlioglu who took control at the head of the field and extended his cushion over the chasing pack.Andrea Locatelli, Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista were all in the mix for the podium positions behind the two-time champion.Further down the order, Rea crashed his Pata Yamaha at turn one with six laps of the 20 remaining while sitting in eighth place but re-mounted, falling back into 18th spot.The six-time champion from Northern Ireland crashed again one lap later however and this time was unable to rejoin the field because of damage to his bike.Ultimately, Razgatlioglu prevailed by 3.7 seconds to win, with Bulega second, his Duacti team-mate Bautista third, then Locatelli, Danilo Petrucci and Alex Lowes making up the top six.Razgatlioglu now leads Bulega by nine points at the top of the championship standings, with the Superpole and Race Two still to come at the Balaton Park circuit on Sunday.While a number of riders involved in the crash in the initial running took part in the restarted race, Honda rider Iker Lecuona and Yamaha-mounted Remy Gardner both received treatment in the medical centre.Lecuona was later diagnosed with a left wrist fracture while Gardner was transported to hospital with a back contusion and suspected concussion.