Lombok. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu made history on Sunday by becoming the first Turkish rider to win the World Superbike Championship while Indonesia's brand new circuit in the resort island of Lombok also reached a milestone with its successful major grand prix debut.

With the number of weekend races cut to two from normally three due to heavy rain, the Pata Yamaha rider needed to finish second in Race 1 to clinch the title without having to wait for Race 2. He simply followed the textbook to ensure a treble for Yamaha, which also won the team and constructor championships.

“Today wasn’t an easy race for me, all I could do was try my best and we are champions. This hasn’t been easy, because many races and many moments, sometimes we’ve crashed or had a problem, but now we are here,” he said in an emotional post-race interview.

The Turkish star becomes the third-youngest world champion of all time at 25 years, 1 month and 5 days, behind James Toseland and Troy Corser. 

He dethroned Kawasaki's Jonathan Rea who was seeking a seventh consecutive title.

Despite winning both races in Mandalika, Rea must settle for a runner-up but the Briton couldn't say that he was happy.

“Of course I'm disappointed because I've lost one more opportunity,” he said of the race reduction.

“But it is what it is. The championship wasn't lost here in Mandalika because I've lost my championship in the middle of this season with a lot of errors and mistakes, so yeah no regret.”

Today’s victory means that he has now won at 21 different circuits – another world record.

The Mandalika International Circuit was built in just 14 months but now it proves that it can handle both dry and wet races. 

With some critical notes for sure.

“In the afternoon when we started in the wet conditions, there was standing water in some places. You have to be careful especially in Turn 5 and Turn 6 which are a little bit tricky. Turn 9 was very critical because there was a lot of water inside the kerb. So I just tried to end position in the box, not in hospital,” Honda veteran rider Alvaro Bautista said of the rain-hit Race 2.

“The good thing is that we can race in front of all Indonesian fans because there is a lot of support from the people here for motorcycle. I'm also really happy about the layout of the track – it's really enjoyable. We look forward to keeping it for next year in the calendar,” said the Spanish rider, who has been confirmed of moving to Ducati right after the Indonesian round.

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