Superbike Estoril Day 2: Toprak, Nicolo, Alvaro, they said...

With five races to go, Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a near-perfect day at the Estoril circuit and strengthened their grip on the Superbike title with victory in Race 1.

After setting a lap record in the Tissot Superpole session, he claimed his 20th victory of the season.

Race 1 Highlights
A five-driver crash in Turn 1 led to the race being red-flagged. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Tarran Mackenzie (MGM BONOVO Racing), Tetsuta nagashima (Honda HRC) and Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) were all involved.

When the race resumed, its duration was reduced to 20 laps and the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati riders got the best start. Alvaro Bautista led the first two laps, his first time in the lead since the first round of the year, while Nicholas Bulega was overtaken by Razgatlioglu on the third lap. The Turkish rider took the lead on the same lap and led the field to the finish.

Bulega's mid-race pace put Razgatlioglu under pressure. The Italian driver suffered front-end grip issues in the closing laps and had to settle for the 20 points for second place.

Bautista spent the first two-thirds of the race under pressure. The Spaniard was harassed by Jonathan Rea during the first half of the race. On lap 12, he went wide in Turn 1, but recovered to reestablish his advantage. Rea finished in sixth position, behind his Pata Maxus Yamaha teammate, Andrea Locatelli, and alex lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team).

Championship Highlights
Razgatlioglu extends his championship lead World SBK 41 points ahead of Bulega.
Despite withdrawing from this weekend's race due to injury, Danilo Petrucci was awarded the Best Independent Driver award.
In the constructors' standings, BMW is now one point behind Ducati.

P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
"At the beginning of the race, everything was under control, but in the middle of the race, Nicolo had a little more grip than me. At the end of the race, I was spinning a lot, but so was he. I'm really happy to have finished the first race in first position. Tomorrow we have two more difficult races, and I will do my best again."

P2 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It’s not a bad result, but it’s not enough. I tried everything, but honestly, Toprak was very strong today. On the first lap, I lost a bit of time and he was already far behind. I tried to make up time and almost caught him, but in the last five laps, I felt a sharp drop in pressure on the front tire and the risk of a crash was high, so I preferred to take second place. We’ll try again tomorrow.”

P3 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“Today I didn't make any mistakes, so I'm happy. It was important to finish and score good points for the championship. I had a good start, but I couldn't push in the first laps. The bike was difficult to ride and I felt a bit like a passenger. The maximum today was third place, because Toprak and Nicolo were really fast. My pace wasn't bad, but I stayed calm to finish on the podium. I'm happy and tomorrow I'll try to keep the same mentality and get the maximum again.”