This Saturday in Estoril, Toprak Razgatlioglu gets a little closer to the Superbike crown
Tissot Superpole Highlights Superbike : Sixth pole of the season for Toprak Razgatlioglu
Morning rain drenched the 4,182km Estoril circuit and created tricky conditions for the Superpole session.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) waited until his final lap to set the fastest time. With a 1'52.430, he secured his sixth pole position of the season and the 18th of his career.
A mistake on the last lap cost him the best time Danilo Petrucci, but the Barni Spark Racing Team rider was still able to secure his third front row of the season. Qualifying in second position, just 0.082s slower than Razgatlioglu's time, Petrucci achieved his best performance of the season in Superpole.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati duo Nicolo Bulega et Alvaro Bautista qualified in fifth and eleventh position respectively.
Pata Prometeon Yamaha's qualifying was excellent, Jonathan Rhea securing his second front row start of the season in third position. Andrea Locatelli achieved his best performance of the season in Superpole by setting the fourth fastest time.
Race 1: Razgatlioglu returns to victory
After missing six races due to injuries at the French round, Toprak Razgatlioglu had to wait three more races to get back to winning ways. The Turkish rider was the only one to opt for the harder Pirelli SC0 tyre. Early in the race he was involved in a battle with Andrea Locatelli et Danilo Petrucci for the lead, but on lap five he asserted his authority and moved into the lead. His nine-second winning margin shows his dominance in the first race of the weekend.
Starting from the second line, Nicholas Bulega dropped to seventh place, jostled early in the race by Jonathan Rhea. It proved costly, but the title contender gradually got back into the race. Halfway through the race, he took second position by taking advantage of a crash.Alvaro BautistaThe second half of the race was about managing the gap with his pursuers.
Bautista's crash on lap 10 at Turn 9 leaves him 106 points behind Razgatlioglu and the two-time champion is now out of the race.
An excellent start from the second row of the grid allowed Andrea Locatelli to take the lead on lap 2. The Yamaha rider made an impressive start, but in the second third of the race he crashed at turn 7.
The end of the race came down to a battle for the last step of the podium. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) rode well to finish third. The podium is Honda's first of the season and the Spanish rider's first since the 2022 Dutch round. This is the tenth race in a row, Honda finished with both riders in the top 10. Starting from the fifth row of the grid demonstrated Lecuona's speed and skill in the race.
Championship Highlights
Razgatlioglu holds a 44-point lead over Bulega in the championship. With five races remaining in the WorldSBK season, there are 99 points still up for grabs.
P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
»I took a gamble to use the SC0 tyre for this race. During the race I realised it was the right decision because my pace was great. It’s amazing to win again. We need to improve some things for tomorrow and I hope to fight for the win in the next two races. Tomorrow’s weather is still a bit strange. We could have rain in the morning and a dry afternoon. We’ll see what happens, but I’m ready for both conditions. It’s a very important race weekend for me because I need big points, but my main goal is to win the race! »
P2 | Nicolo Bulega | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
» Race 1 was my first dry session of the weekend. In the first few laps I had to figure out some things on my bike. But overall it wasn't too bad. I made a good comeback after Jonathan pushed me at Turn 2. I stayed calm and tried to recover. Toprak was very fast again today. Second place is the best result I could have achieved.
P3 | Iker Lecuona | Team HRC
"When I got to the pit lane I started crying. This year has been really tough for me. I doubted if I was good enough to be here and I've had to deal with so many injuries in the last few years. Finally we had the pace to get on the podium, and here we are. I want to thank everyone who supported me! My team did a great job and believed in me. I hope this is not our last podium!"
Estoril Superbike Saturday