jpnn.com, LOMBOK - The hope of Kawasaki racer Jonathan Rea to defend his World Superbike (WSBK) championship title at the Mandalika Circuit went out of the window after being defeated by Pata Yamaha's Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Despite winning two races, the Briton failed to overtake the points earned by Razgatlioglu.
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Razgatlioglu became the new champion of the WSBK, breaking Rea's dominant world title streak in the previous six seasons.
He also became the first Turkish racer to become a WSBK champion.
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Razgatlioglu ended the season with a 16-point advantage over Rea.
It was also the first time Yamaha became world champion since Ben Spies won the WSBK in 2009.
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Yamaha also added to its celebrations Sunday as it won the constructors' title beating Ducati, who were 13 points adrift in second place to sweep three titles in the 2021 season.
Rea himself won his second victory at the Mandalika Circuit after holding off the onslaught of Aruba.It Ducati rider Scott Reading in Race 2 World Superbike on Sunday.
The race was delayed by an hour and a half due to heavy rain.
After the track was declared safe and the weather improved, the committee decided to hold a race with a distance of 12 laps from the original 21 laps.
Polesitter Razgatlioglu was good enough to start the closing race of the season when the track was still wet.
Rea slipped to fifth position after the start but was able to find a gap to improve his position.
Axel Bassani, who was quite competitive in Race 1, fell at the exit of the last corner after colliding with Michael Van Der Mark.
After five laps, Redding and Rea were the two dominant drivers, leaving their rivals behind as Van Der Mark and Razgatlioglu were 3.5 seconds apart for third place.
Redding took advantage of the main straight with the power of his Ducati bike to overtake Rea for the lead.
However, the Kawasaki rider stole the gap in the last two corners, restored his position, and won his second race of the day after beating Razgatlioglu in Race 1 this morning.
Van Der Mark completed the podium after finishing 7.4 seconds later, defeating the new world champion who had to settle for finishing P4.
Van Der Mark's team mate Tom Sykes took his second BMW M 1000 R to fifth place, capping off his last appearance for the BMW Motorrad team in Mandalika. (antara/lia/mcr20/jpnn)
This news has been broadcast on JPNN.com with the title: Drama Race 2 WSBK Mandalika: Rea Menang Lagi, Toprak Juara Dunia, Yamaha Pesta Pora