Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) has made it two wins from two starts at Donington Park’s sixth round of the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) in Great Britain.

A first double for van der Mark, and a first podium for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), beating none other than Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the closing stages.

A poor start from Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) saw him gobbled up in the mix at the first turn, ceding two places to Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). The Yamaha managed to pick both off in short order however, Haslam at the Fogarty Esses (before the wildcard crashed at Melbourne), and the Italian in lap two.

Meanwhile, the two KRTs held a surprisingly aggressive battle, while the other Yamaha quietly made it through to the leading group from ninth on the grid.

Quickly, one third in, the battle for the race turned into a three-way fight, with Lowes sticking strong but Rea taking ghost shots around Craner and Melbourne. Meanwhile, van der Mark, much like he did on Saturday, stalked the front two, biding his time. At the back, Razgatlioglu and Savadori fought nail and tooth for fourth, a few seconds back on the leading group.

After two perfect thirds to the race, it all came apart for Lowes at the end. On lap 17, Rea found a spot at the Melbourne loop, where so many moves have been made this weekend, and pushed in front from the inside of Lowes, with van der Mark picking off the scraps at Redgate and moving to second. And just like yesterday, one lap later, van der Mark made his race-winning move at that same turn 11. The Ductchman shot off from there, giving his pursuers no option to take away his incredible double.

There was one more surprise left at Donington, however. Amidst the front group bickering, Razgatlioglu found himself with the gap now non-existent. Showing an impressive late-race pace, the Turkish rider picked off Lowes with ease, before setting his sights on the three-time WorldSBK champion. And with one lap to go, he moved up to second. A fitting epilogue to Kenan Sofuoglu’s retirement in the last Round: Turkey has a new hero for years to come.

With Rea finally in third, his worst result since the Thai Round, and Alex Lowes repeating his Saturday performance in fourth, there was another comeback behind. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) found his way all the way back to twelfth at the start, but a neat ride from the Welshman pushed him back to fifth, ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who couldn’t continue his incredible Donington streak and leaves with his first finish outside the podium since 2011.

Savadori made it to the checkered flag in seventh, just ahead of Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), who pipped Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) to eighth at the final turns, and leaves the UK Round with two top-ten finishes on his return. Closing the top ten was Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team), with Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) ending a weekend to forget down in 11th.

Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) took the second win of his FIM Supersport World Championship (WorldSSP) career with a cool, controlled ride in his first venture to Donington Park in nine years.

The German shot up to second at the start, and after taking the lead one third into the race managed to defend his lead professionally to the checkered flag in a three-way battle with Jules Cluzel (NRT) and Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), second and third. Australian Anthony West (EAB Antwest Racing) charged his way to 11th in the 20-lap affair.

Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team) held and extended her lead in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship (WorldSSP300) with a dominant display at Donington Park. The Spaniard was unstoppable at the UK Round, taking the first-ever grand slam in WorldSSP300 – pole, win, fastest lap and all laps led.

Behind, another frantic last lap dash saw her teammate Dorren Loureiro (DS Junior Team) taking his first podium finish in WorldSSP300 ahead of Borja Sanchez (ETG Racing). Aussies Tom Edwards (Kawasaki) and Lachlan Epis (Kawasaki) wound up 15th and 28th respectively.

The next stop on the WorldSBK calendar is scheduled for 8-10 June at the Brno circuit in Czech Republic.

Detailed results