WSBK Aragon Superbike Race Superpole: Alvaro Bautista wins the sprint with authority, Toprak Razgatlioglu in Ducati's sights

Alvaro Bautista celebrates his eighth Superbike success in the Superpole race at Motorland Aragon: with two champion overtakes he gets rid of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega!

By Paul Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Alvaro Bautista was ready to do anything to make an impression on his Superbike circuit. In the last two laps of the Superpole Race, he first got rid of Nicholas Bulega, who was formidable for more than half the distance, then Toprak Razgatliotlu on the last lap. At the same place, the slow chicane before the longest straight: the world champion rushed into it as if he had no tomorrow, which had the effect of reducing the gap in the standings, weighted as it should be. When Bautista does that, he is out of reach of everyone, even of a Toprak who already seems to have found his usual level.

A crazy battle
Motorland offered us ten crazy laps, perhaps the most spectacular of this Superbike season, which did not disappoint expectations. Bulega set off with bitterness due to the breakdown that prevented him from competing in the first Spanish challenge. Until the seventh lap, he held on, responding every time Toprak tried to get in his way. Bautista remained a spectator for a long time, looking absent, but with two laps to go, he let loose. First he excluded Bulega from the fight, then, on the last lap, he reserved the same treatment for Toprak. "I thought why not?", comments Alvarito, on his 104th Ducati podium, more than Carl Fogarty. Here he got things back on track and booked his encore in the afternoon challenge.

Toprak gains ground
El Turco found himself struggling with the Reds, but he still gained ground. Bulega is now 35 points behind, Bautista has made a small step but remains a good distance away: 86 points behind. "I found the BMW I like, the day before it didn't go as I wanted. Next one, I'll try to win it", anticipated the world championship leader. The two missed rounds, the convalescence and the fear of Magny Cours seem to have been forgotten. The pace of the race was very high: even with the same choice of tires as in the long race, Topak set the new Aragon record, 1'47″935. This time, Andrea Iannone missed the train, settling for a still positive fourth position. Danilo Petrucci, sixth and also preceded by a Garrett gerloff enthusiastic, was a little behind. Bad accident for Alex Lowes : shoulder contusion, he will not be able to start race 2.

At 14 p.m., the confrontation
The programme for the tenth round of the Superbike ends at 14pm with the second challenge over the long distance of 18 laps, or 91 kilometres. The world championship is in its hottest phase: in two weeks it will be held in Estoril, Portugal: this round has been added in place of Hungary. Seven days later it is the grand finale in Jerez. Including today's race 2, there are still 149 points to be awarded: anything can happen.

Read the original article on Corsedimoto.com
Paul Gozzi

Aragon Superbike Race Superpole Bautista

Aragon Superbike Race Superpole Bautista