The top three in the Championship battled it out for Race 2 honours in the final race of the Argentinean Round
Race 2 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Circuito San Juan Villicum as the Championship top three engaged in a hard-fought 21-lap battle during the Motul Argentinean Round as Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed his first victory since the Catalunya Round after withstanding a challenge from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), with Rea taking four points out of Razgatlioglu’s Championship lead.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) got a good start from third on the grid while Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) led from pole position before the pair battled it out throughout the first three laps, with Rea taking the lead of the race briefly before being pushed down to third on the fourth lap of 21.
Redding moved up to second with a pass on Rea before passing Razgatlioglu into Turn 8 on Lap 5, while Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) continued his strong form as he battled the Championship’s top three for a podium position. Rea was able to respond to move into second and looked to move back into the lead, but the Turkish start was able to resist that challenge on Lap 6. At the start of Lap 9, Redding made a move on Rea into Turn 1, with Razgatlioglu still out in front, although Redding did make a move into Turn 8 with Razgatlioglu responding instantly.
On Lap 10 at Turn 7, Redding was able to overtake Razgatlioglu to move into the lead of the race, with Rea almost able to pass the Turkish star into Turn 8 but Razgatlioglu responded to keep second place. The move allowed Redding to escape away at the front of the race after the thrilling battles, with the battle between Razgatlioglu, Rea and Bassani continuing. Rea cut back under Razgatlioglu into Turn 7 to briefly move into second place on Lap 14 but Razgatlioglu regained the position under braking into Turn 8. On Lap 16, Rea made the crucial overtake to move into Turn 1 but Razgatlioglu fought back until Turn 5 with the pair side-by-side throughout the sequence. After this, Rea was able to break away to claim second place ahead of Razgatlioglu, with Redding claiming his first victory since Catalunya Race 1.