Toprak Razgatlioglu claimed another WorldSBK record on his way to a dominant Race 1 victory at Donington Park.
The BMW rider broke the record that he previously equalled with former champion Tom Sykes, securing his 10th victory on the East Midlands circuit.
Razgatlioglu maintained the holeshot at Turn 1 but the greatest start came from Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea who promoted his Yamaha to second.
A three way crash occurred at the off featuring Sam Lowes, Yari Montella and Alvaro Bautista at Turn 1. All three riders retired from proceedings due to the damage sustained to their Bologna bikes.
Championship leader Nicolo Bulega demoted himself down to fifth, whereas Bimota rider Alex Lowes stormed past Razgatlioglu and sustained a second advantage by the end of Lap 2.
Rea was overtaken by team-mate Andrea Locatelli and Bulega, but all three riders gained a position after leader Lowes lost the front at the fast Turn 4.
Razgatlioglu, Bulega and Rea occupied the top three positions at the start of Lap 4, but the BMW rider held over a two second advantage over the rest of the field.
On Lap 5, Locatelli scooped his way back through on Rea for third once again, while Tommy Bridewell and Tito Rabat crashed out and retired that same lap.
Barni Spark Racing’s Danilo Petrucci climbed up to fourth after slotting his way through on Rea at Turn 4.
British rider Scott Redding started 17th for Bonovo Ducati after a difficult qualifying, but he rose through the classification charts to put himself up to fifth by Lap 9.
The two championship protagonists of Razgatlioglu and Bulega stretched a four second gap over the rest of the field but Petrucci, Redding and the Pata Maxus Yamaha duo were all competing for the final podium.
Razgatlioglu claimed his fourth victory in a row and crossed the line a mammoth 6.5s ahead of factory Ducati’s Bulega.
Bulega secured an important second after occupying the race in fifth place in the early stages.
Petrucci secured another podium for Barni Spark, making it a seventh appearance on the rostrum this season.
Locatelli and Rea posted fourth and fifth for Pata Maxus Yamaha, respectively, and the latter defeated Bonovo’s Redding in a last lap duel.
Dominique Aegerter posted seventh for GRT Yamaha, crossing the line a tenth clear of Kawasaki’s Garrett Gerloff.
Remy Gardner made sure all Yamaha riders secured a place inside the top nine, followed closely by GoEleven’s Andrea Iannone.
Xavi Vierge finished 11th for Honda as Ryan Vickers secured 12th at his home race on his debut WorldSBK outing.
Michael van der Mark posted 13th for BMW, finishing 34s behind his team-mate Razgatlioglu.
Michael Reuben Rinaldi and Bahattin Sofuoglu claimed the final two point scoring positions, finishing 14th and 15th place, respectively.
