Yamaha: Championship ‘pretty much done’, Razgatlioglu ‘rode more than the limit’

Razgatlioglu trails Alvaro Bautista by 82 points in the WorldSBK standings with just two rounds to go, which means the Ducati rider could be crowned champion as early as race one in Mandalika. 

The Yamaha rider made his already slim chances of becoming a back-to-back champion harder when he crashed in Race One at San Juan, a race that Bautista went on to win. However, Denning claimed the team already had the mindset of it being ‘more or less finished’ regardless of that error.

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"I think we came here thinking that the championship was more or less finished, to be honest," Denning told WorldSBK.com. "Unfortunately Race 1’s result, and the level of the results of Alvaro here, mean it’s pretty much done, to be honest, but let’s at least try to take it to Phillip Island. 

"Let’s try to be competitive in Mandalika, fight for wins there, try to beat Alvaro and at least put him under a little bit of pressure in Phillip Island. That’d be nice. 62 points in one weekend so never say never."

Although Bautista left San Juan as a two-time race winner, Razgatlioglu delivered one of the performances of the season in order to avoid a hat-trick from the Spaniard.

Having already made a crucial mistake in Race One when trying to overtake Bautista, Razgatlioglu put that to the back of his mind in the Superpole Race as he responded to three different overtakes from Bautista by getting back through immediately at turn nine, that’s despite the Ducati having clear advantages at certain parts of the circuit.

Speaking about Razgatlioglu’s miraculous performance, Denning said: "I believe it was three times at Turn 9 he passed Alvaro. I said on the pit wall to Phil , his crew chief, that it shows the level of confidence he has to pass such a good competitor at the corner where he crashed. 

"That was a positive sign. The race was one of the most exciting of the year. It was clear that Toprak’s tactic had to be to put himself in front in the right part on the last lap, with the knowledge that you are always going to be behind at the end of the straight with the performance deficit being so significant here. 

"He rode more than the limit. It’s difficult to say, he’s ridden so many incredible, crazy, good races but I think this was one of the best."