World Superbikes: Razgatlioglu's double extends series lead over Rea to 20 points

Toprak Razgatlioglu held off Jonathan Rea in Race 1 in Jerez before taking another victory in Race 2Getty Images

Toprak Razgatlioglu went into the Jerez round with a one-point championship lead over Jonathan Rea

Turkey's Toprak Razgatlioglu won both races in Jerez to increase his World Superbikes Championship lead over Jonathan Rea to 20 points.

Race 1 was delayed until Sunday morning following the tragic death of 15-year-old Spanish rider Dean Berta Vinales in the Supersport 300 race on Saturday.

Razgatlioglu, 24, won the first race as he held off Northern Irishman Rea, 34.

Rea led on lap one in Race Two, but had to settle for fifth as Razgatlioglu won from Britain's Scott Redding.

The Turkish rider swapped the lead with Rea on the first lap in Race Two, but soon became involved in a thrilling battle with Redding, who is third in this season's championship.

Ducati rider Redding, 28, moved into the lead on lap 16, but Razgatlioglu regained the advantage on lap 18 on his Yamaha and held his nerve over the closing two circuits to take a narrow victory.

Rea and Razgatlioglu's bikes touch in Race 1

Rea, seeking a seventh successive World Superbikes title, seemed to suffer bike issues in Race Two after competing strongly against the Turkish rider in the earlier race.

He dropped to fourth spot on lap three after also being passed by Redding and his Ducati team-mate Michael Rinaldi.

By lap eight, the six-time world champion was down in sixth, but Rea managed to pick up one position during the remainder of the race as he finished 6.3 seconds behind Razgatlioglu.

Home rider Alvaro Bautista produced a strong second half to move up to third place with Razgatlioglu's Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli also finishing ahead of Rea.

Getty Images

Jonathan Rea will hope to cut into Razgatlioglu's championship lead in Portimao next weekend

Rea, who trailed Razgatlioglu by one point going into the Jerez round, held off his rival for 14 laps in Race 1 with the two riders' bikes touching on lap seven when the Yamaha rider tried a risky overtaking manoeuvre.

The Northern Irishman briefly extended his advantage after that incident, but Razgatlioglu regained his composure to finally get past seven laps later and went on to win by 1.2 seconds.

Englishman Redding completed the podium as he finished 2.7 seconds behind with Italy's Locatelli fourth.

Razgatlioglu has moved to 449 points in the standings with Rea second on 429 and Redding third, 74 points off the pace.

Rea's compatriot Eugene Laverty - drafted into the BMW team for the weekend because of Tom Sykes' injury - finished 11th and 12th in Sunday's races.

The shorter Superpole race did not take place at the meeting.

With 248 points still up for grabs, the series moves on to Portimao in Portugal next weekend, with the final two rounds taking place in Argentina from 16-17 October and Indonesia from 20-21 November.

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