Razgatlioglu beats Bulega and Bautista to WorldSBK Estoril Race 2 glory as championship rages on
Toprak Razgatlioglu won the WorldSBK Estoril Race 2 following on from the Turkish rider’s defeat in the Superpole race earlier on. Razgatlioglu extends his lead in the championship, as the championship will go to the final round in Jerez next weekend.
In similar fashion to both Race 1 and the Superpole race, the Yamaha’s of Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli would quickly find themselves at the front of the field, overtaking Nicolo Bulega, Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu in the opening few corners.
Razgatlioglu would sink further through the field early on, ending the first lap in fifth place as the Ducati’s of Bulega and Alvaro Bautista began closing down on the Yamaha’s at the end of the first lap.
After just a couple of laps, Bulega and Bautista would come through on Locatelli and Rea, predominantly down the front straight, where the Ducati Panigale V4 had been incredibly strong throughout the Estoril weekend. However, likely to the dismay of Bulega, title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu would follow the pair of them through, the Turkish rider eventually overtaking both of the Ducati’s, after Bautista ran wide at the tough, tight Turn 7 hairpin.
Nicolo Bulega would be stuck behind his teammate Bautista for a couple of laps, seemingly frustrated as Razgatlioglu steadily built a lead of a couple of seconds. Bulega would eventually overtake Bautista, the rookie setting his sights on the BMW rider further up the road.
However, as Andrea Locatelli crashed at Turn 7, Bulega would have a huge moment on the Ducati, losing control of the bike and nearly going down on the back straight before Turn 8. This enabled Razgatlioglu to build the gap to around four seconds, as Bulega settled into the race and took a comfortable second place, rather than risking a crash where the Italian could have lost vital points.
Alvaro Bautista would sit behind his teammate Bulega as the pair came across the line in second and third place, keeping the championship alive as the World Superbike championship heads to Jerez next weekend, with Bulega 46 points behind Razgatlioglu.
Toprak Razgatlioglu would ride across the line aboard the BMW, to take another crucial victory in the World Championship, extending his lead over Bulega and tightening his grip on the championship trophy. Jonathan Rea would finish in fourth place, one of Rea’s best performances of the season aboard the Yamaha.
Danilo Petrucci would also take the independent riders’ championship ahead of Andrea Iannone and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, the Italian celebrating after almost dying earlier this year pre-season, to now winning multiple WorldSBK races and being crowned Independent riders’ champion.
WorldSBK Estoril Race 2 Results
1st Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW
2nd Nicolo Bulega, Ducati
3rd Alvaro Bautista, Ducati
4th Jonathan Rea, Yamaha
5th Michael Van Der Mark, BMW
6th Xavi Vierge, Honda
7th Danilo Petrucci, Ducati
8th Andrea Iannone, Ducati
9th Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Ducati
10th Axel Bassani, Kawasaki
11th Scott Redding, BMW
12th Alex Lowes, Kawasaki
13th Dominique Aegerter, Yamaha
14th Bradley Ray, Yamaha
15th Ivo Lopes, Honda
16th Philipp Oettl, Yamaha
17th Luca Bernadi, Yamaha
DNF Tito Rabat, Kawasaki
DNF Iker Lecuona, Honda
DNF Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha
DNF Garrett Gerloff, BMW
DNF Sam Lowes, Ducati
DNF Tarran Mackenzie, Honda
Featured Image: BMW Motorrad Group
