Razgatlioglu and Rea were involved in their most high-profile incident yet in Sunday’s second full-distance race at Assen, the pair crashing out simultaneously after making contact during their lead battle exiting Turn 1.
Both riders blamed each other for the collision, each saying the onus was on the other rider to avoid the crash.
It followed a number of close calls between the two during their bitter title rivalry in 2021, with Rea suggesting Razgatlioglu was too aggressive in battle at Portimao and the Yamaha rider hitting back by calling his rival “scared”.
Bautista, who had a front row seat for the latest incident between Razgatlioglu and Rea from third position, didn’t want to point fingers at any one rider, but felt that it was a matter of time before they were involved in a major crash.
“It seems like Toprak went a bit wide, so he went over the kerb, but not out of the track – just on the kerb,” recalled Bautista. “Jonathan was on the inside but behind.
“Jonathan was faster, looking for a normal line. But Toprak was on that line [already] so they stayed together in the same place at the same moment – and there is no space for two riders and they touched.
“They touched in the past, but this time it happened [that they crashed]. One time it has to happen because we see many many impacts from them in the past.
He added: “[Razgatlioglu] tried to recover the line and Jonathan was on the correct line. For sure Toprak cannot see if Jonathan is coming or not.
“The rider who is behind has to see the other rider. [You cannot just say] ‘Okay, he went out, I just look at the next corner and do my line’.
“And the rider on the outside is in front, so he cannot see who is coming from behind, and maybe Toprak thought that if somebody comes, he will see him. So it is complicated to say something [about who is to blame].”
Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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