World Superbikes: Rea and Razgatlioglu collide as Bautista wins at Assen

Toprak Razgatlioglu, who ended Jonathan Rea's run of six titles in a row last year, crashed out with the Northern Irishman

Jonathan Rea collided with Toprak Razgatlioglu to hand Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista victory and the championship lead in the second World Superbike race at Assen.

Rea and Razgatlioglu crashed out on lap four after the reigning champion ran wide at the first turn and collected the Northern Irishman as he returned to the racing line.

Bautista now leads Rea by 18 points.

Rea won his 100th race for Kawasaki in Sunday's earlier Superpole sprint race.

After starting from pole for the second 21-lap feature race, Rea dropped to fifth at the start as Razgatlioglu claimed an early lead ahead of Spanish rider Bautista.

Rea survived a touch from Yamaha's Garrett Gerloff and pulled off a superb pass on Iker Lecuona into the final chicane before powering past Andrea Locatelli later on the second lap.

As has often been the case in 2022, Rea and his title rivals broke free at the front and the six-time champion moved into second past Bautista with another move at the final chicane.

However, the decisive moment in the race came when the leading duo collided. Rea aimed to dive past Razgatlioglu after the Turkish rider ran wide, but the pair came together as they both aimed for the same piece of tarmac.

Bautista was forced to take avoiding action but soon battled his way to the front to take a comfortable victory and capitalise on the misfortune of his rivals.

Locatelli was a distant second for Yamaha ahead of Lecuona, who completed the podium for Honda.

Rea's Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes was fourth, in front of the Ducati of Axel Bassani and BMW's Scott Redding.

"I was behind them. Toprak went a bit out of the track and when he recovered the position Jonathan went straight to him," said Bautista.

"They touched and unfortunately it was one of the times where they both crash. I was so lucky, I was just behind them.

"I managed to refocus and get good pace. I felt quite good with my bike and I am happy. I hope Toprak and Jonathan are well physically and we will have more battles in the next races."