Jonathan Rea's wait for first World Superbike points of season continues after first-lap retirement at Catalunya as Toprak Razgatlioglu seals sensational BMW win

It marks a fourth straight race for the six-time champion without any points after Rea left the season-opener at Phillip Island in Australia in February empty-handed.

The 37-year-old’s move from Kawasaki to the Pata Prometeon Yamaha team has not yet yielded the results Rea would have hoped for when he put pen to paper on a two-year contract after nine years as a Team Green rider.

He qualified 13th fastest on the fifth row but appeared to run into issues with the factory R1 on the first lap, when Rea dropped back to last before pulling out. Rea later revealed he had “fried the clutch” on the grid.

The 119-time race winner will now try to regroup for Sunday’s Superpole race (10:00 GMT) and Race 2 (13:00 GMT) as he attempts to score his first points as a Yamaha rider.

Saturday’s race was sensationally won by Toprak Razgatlioglu, who shattered the lap record to secure pole from Aruba.it Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega and former MotoGP ace Andrea Iannone (Team Go Eleven Ducati).

Razgatlioglu took the early lead before being overhauled by England’s Sam Lowes on the Marc VDS Ducati.

Lowes later crashed out as current World Supersport champion Bulega began to close in on the leader.

Bulega, a race winner on his World Superbike debut in Australia, pulled a gap at the front and appeared on course for a textbook victory, but Razgatlioglu began to rapidly slash the deficit in the final few laps as Bulega struggled for rear grip.

On a thrilling final lap, former champion Razgatlioglu snatched the lead and went on to seal his maiden win for BMW by eight tenths of a second.

Bulega held on for the runner-up spot ahead of team-mate and reigning champion Alvaro Bautista, who fought his way through from the fifth row after receiving a three-place grid penalty for touring on the racing line in Superpole qualifying.

Iannone finished fourth behind Bautista with Rea’s Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli and Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes rounding out the top six.

Ahead of Sunday’s races, Bulega now leads the championship by a point from Phillip Island double winner Lowes, with Razgatlioglu 17 points adrift in third.