WSBK Superbike Barcelona: No, Toprak Razgatlioglu did not win everything in Catalonia!

Certainly, the highlight of the Superbike World Championship round World SBK in Barcelona was the first, the first, victories of Toprak Razgatlioglu with BMW, but we cannot hide thatAlvaro Bautista also won a race there, and the two official Ducatis lead the general classification… 

After having the victory stolen in the last corner of the Superpole race by a Toprak Razgatlioglu extraterrestrial, Alvaro Bautista took his revenge the next day by climbing to the top step of the podium in race 2, almost managing to forget race 1 in which he started penalized by three places on the grid.

“It’s an excellent result at the end of a weekend that wasn’t easy. We managed to recover position after position starting from P14 in Race 1 because of a penalty that I didn't understand. For this, I would like to thank the team with whom we did an excellent job. It's never easy, especially because this track is so complicated to attack from the start. You have to manage the tires. I was in the situation where I wanted to attack more in the first laps to gain a few positions but, at the same time, I had to save the tires. I tried to stay calm, to manage the tires as best as possible. Behind the other drivers, the big group, I had some problems with the front because it was overheating. I had to save a few slips with my elbow; Luckily, I was able to save everything. Halfway through the race a lot of riders were coming back at me and I think third place was the most I could do. »

The next day, we couldn't get enough of it, the Superpole race was decided in the last corner.

“I really enjoyed this battle with all the guys. I just missed the victory in the last corner. I knew Toprak was going to try, whatever line I took! I tried to close the trajectory a little, but not too much because I thought: 'if I go on the inside curb, it will go over the curb'. Finally, I tried to manage but he came in to pass me rather than take the turn. In any case, I was happy with the performance. »

Finally, the double world champion, who is undoubtedly gaining momentum after a lackluster start to the season, proved unbeatable and boosted his confidence level.

“During Race 2, I changed tire choices on the grid. I did the reconnaissance lap with the X tire and the sensations were much better. It worked. In the first laps I was very slow, but no one overtook me! When I saw Nico passing me, I thought it was normal. I remained calm. When I caught up with him, I thought it was possible to keep this pace until the end, so I took the lead. I was able to be very precise in my driving, concentrated throughout the race, so I'm happy with the victory and the way we won. Little by little, my confidence and my feelings with the bike increase. »

In the end, the weekend in Catalonia allowed Álvaro Bautista to move from 5th to 2nd place, 12 points behind his teammate Nicolo Bulega and tied on points with Alex Lowes.
At the same time, Toprak Razgatlioglu went from 8th to 4th place, just 4 points behind the duo in front of him…