Toprak Razgatlioglu won FIM Superbike World Championship Race One Saturday at Autodrom Most, in The Czech Republic. The poleman rode his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team M1000RR to a 6.015-second margin of victory in the 22-lap race.
Nicolo Bulega was the runner-up on his Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Panigale V4R and just held off Danilo Petrucci, who rode his Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4R to third.
Alex Lowes was fourth on his Kawasaki Racing Team bimota KB998 Rimini and Bulega’s teammate, Alvaro Bautista crossed the finish line fifth.
American Garrett Gerloff finished the race 11th on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
For the championship, Razgatlioglu is 29 points behind his principal rival Bulega who has 218 points. Bautista is third with 136 points.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
FIGHTING BACK: Razgatlioglu claims victory ahead of Bulega at Most, Bautista fights back to P5.The reigning Champion was in good form for Race 1 as he claimed victory in Czechia, finishing directly ahead of title rival Nicolo Bulega.
The sun was out at Autodrom Most as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid took to the track for Race 1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) returned to the top of the podium, cruising past Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for P1 and not letting go of it from then on. Bulega and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) claimed P2 and P3 respectively. Elsewhere, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) recovered from a Lap 1 incident to secure P5.
151st PODIUM FOR RAZGATLIOGLU: A win on Sunday would see him tie Bautista in career race wins
Razgatlioglu overcame a streaking holeshot from Bulega who started in P2 to top the podium in Race 1. He took P1 from Bulega with a vintage ‘El Turco’ late braking overtake on the inside of Bulega into T1. It was his fifth race win of the season so far and breaks a three-race streak of placing P2 behind Bulega. For Bulega, tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race will be his 50th WorldSBK race, spectacularly, he has finished on the rostrum in more than 70% of those races. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) ran a solid race, doing well to convert his P3 in the Tissot Superpole session to P3 in Race 1.
BAUTISTA’S STUNNING RECOVERY RIDING: After falling to P16, Bautista recovered to P5
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) had a good jump off the line, and while he was behind the streaking Bulega and Razgatlioglu, he cruised to a P4 after holding off a late attack by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The Spaniard was involved in a race incident on Turn 2 in which he was able to stay on his bike, with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) going down. The contact sent him back to P16, however he found another gear and flew back up the grid to finish P5 after overtaking a host of the grid’s riders. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) notched another strong result for him and his Panigale V4 R machinery in P6.
LECUONA AND VIERGE AGAIN INSIDE TOP 10: The Honda factory riders finish P7 and P9 respectively
Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) held onto P6 for most of the race after recovering from an early drop to P8. He only lost P6 to a surging Bautista who slid past him on Lap 18. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) squeezed between the factory Honda pair, holding P7 for most of the race until Bautista passed him as well; his P8 spelling his joint-best result in WorldSBK so far. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) crossed the line just over half a second behind Montella for P9. Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) placed P10, landing his best result of the season so far, showing process on his return to race form after his injury; the #65 had a mega Lap 1, jumping up from 15th on the grid to run as high as P6. Garrett Gerloff’s( Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) P11 was his best of the season so far as well, as the American will hope to continue settling into his new surroundings in Kawasaki green.
AEGERTER P13: Climbs up from P19 grid start
Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) was the slower of the Bimota riders today, finishing less than half a second behind Gerloff for P12. In P13, Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) did well to make up ground from his P19 grid start. Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing) did well as well to improve to a point scoring P14 finish after starting in P17. Rounding out the point-scoring positions, Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) claimed P15 to snag a point in Race 1, with Sofuoglu having to take a Long Lap Penalty for shortcutting Turn 1 and not losing one second. Fellow Rookie Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) finished P16, followed by Tito Rabat (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) in 17th to round out the finishing riders.
TO NOTE FROM RACE 1: three retirements from the first race
Aside from Locatelli and van der Mark, with ‘Loka’ retiring on the spot and van der Mark bringing his bike back to the pits before retiring, there was one other retirement after Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) didn’t finish the race. His teammate, Tarran Mackenzie, didn’t take the race start.
The top six from the WorldSBK Race 1: Full results here!
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +6.015s
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +10.230s
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +14.814s
5. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +15.520s
6. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +16.053s
Fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 1’31.109s – new lap record
WorldSBK race action returns tomorrow at 11:00 (Local time +2 UTC) for their Tissot Superpole Race! Stream it or watch on-demand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 30% off!