World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea crashes out to hand Toprak Razgatlioglu victory

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Jonathan Rea won his fifth race of the 2021 season at Donington ParkImage source, Getty Images
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Jonathan Rea finished out of the points for the first time in 34 races

Jonathan Rea crashed out of the lead of Sunday's World Superbike race at Donington Park to hand the championship advantage to rival Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Northern Irishman Rea lost the front of his Kawasaki while battling Yamaha's Razgatlioglu for the lead on lap 10.

The six-time champion remounted to finish in 20th position, his first time out of the points in 34 races.

Razgatlioglu, who won Saturday's feature race, leads the championship by two points over Rea.

Yamaha's Garrett Gerloff was second and BMW's Tom Sykes completed the podium with his second rostrum of the day.

Rea had won the earlier Superpole race and led from the lights as Razgatlioglu slotted in to second place into the first corner from sixth on the grid.

The Turkish rider dived up the inside of Rea on lap four at Coppice and Rea shadowed his rival before returning the favour at the same corner six laps later.

However Rea made an uncharacteristic error the following lap and slid into the gravel at Coppice, which allowed Razgatlioglu - who agreed a two-year contract with Yamaha on Friday - breathing room to sprint clear and take a dominant win.

Rea remounted and finished in 20th position but was left to watch his 23-point championship lead turn into a two-point deficit.

Behind the podium finishers, Ducati's Scott Redding scored his first points of the weekend in fourth ahead of BMW's Michael van der Mark, Kawasaki's Alex Lowes and Ducati's Chaz Davies.

Northern Ireland's Eugene Laverty claimed the final point in 15th position.

World Superbike Championship standings

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Tur)

Yamaha

183

Jonathan Rea (GB)

Kawasaki

181

Scott Redding (GB)

Ducati

117

Alex Lowes (GB)

Kawasaki

114

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ita)

Ducati

94

Garrett Gerloff (USA)

Yamaha

93

Tom Sykes (GB)

BMW

89