Razgatlioglu crowned champion at WorldSBK Jerez, Bulega denied grand slam as Bautista crashes multiple times
Toprak Razgatlioglu has been crowned the 2024 World Superbike Champion at Round 12 in Jerez, Spain after a long season filled with glory, battles and injury. Nicolo Bulega won two thirds of the races this weekend in Jerez, whilst teammate Alvaro Bautista crashed three times.
Razgatlioglu celebrated in typical fashion after the results of Race 1 in the weekend, which saw him be crowned as World Champion after it became mathematically impossible for Bulega to close down the lead. Razgatlioglu would come out of a UFO wearing a gold version of the BMW leathers, with a brand new golden racing helmet as well.
Race 1
Nicolo Bulega would take the holeshot at the beginning of the race, maintaining the lead of the race after claiming pole position earlier on Saturday morning in the Superpole Qualifying session. Toprak Razgatlioglu would follow close behind, the pair of them both at that point battling for the World Championship.
Alvaro Bautista would crash early on in Race 1 at Turn 6’s Pedrosa corner, the Spaniard going down before making the apex of the corner. Just one lap prior, Danilo Petrucci had also crashed out of the race as well. Bautista would crash once again with just three laps remaining, a complete disaster for the reigning champion.
Meanwhile, at the front of the race, Iker Lecuona and Alex Lowes would duel for fourth place as multiple riders attempted to close out the 2024 season on the podium. The pair would duel for multiple laps, particularly at Turns 6 and 9, both corners opening up with multiple different racing lines to run, creating exciting and entertaining racing.
As Bulega stretched the lead of the race by multiple seconds over Razgatlioglu, it became clear that the championship leader, Razgatlioglu, was maintaining a steady and healthy lead to those around, not needing to take any risks as the Turkish rider was just a few laps away from claiming the World Championship.
Meanwhile, Andrea Locatelli would run in third place, also maintaining a slim but steady lead over Lecuona and Lowes behind, as the pair of them continued to scrap over fourth place.
Nicolo Bulega would come over the start/finish line to claim a dominant victory, the Italian rookie doing everything he could to keep the championship dream alive. However, it would be Toprak Razgatlioglu, who came across the line in second place to claim the World Superbike 2024 championship, a phenomenal season for Razgatlioglu who has battled not only the other riders around, but personal injuries after the devastating crash at Magny-Cours just a few rounds ago.
WorldSBK Jerez Race 1 – Top 10 Results
1st Nicolo Bulega, Ducati
2nd Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW
3rd Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha
4th Alex Lowes, Kawasaki
5th Iker Lecuona, Honda
6th Michael van der Mark, BMW
7th Xavi Vierge, Honda
8th Axel Bassani, Kawasaki
9th Dominique Aegerter, Yamaha
10th Garrett Gerloff, BMW
Superpole Race
Nicolo Bulega would get the holeshot once again at the beginning of the race, maintaining the lead at the start, with Toprak Razgatlioglu in hot pursuit, the two leading riders in the championship, leading the race together by multiple seconds after just a couple of laps, as the rest of the field battled one another further behind the leading duo.
Suddenly, on just the second lap of the race, Razgatlioglu would send his BMW down the inside of Bulega at the long right-hander of Turn 5, surprising Bulega at the apex of the corner, as the pair went side-by-side down into Turn 6, with Razgatlioglu managing to outbrake the Italian. Razgatlioglu’s rear wheel lifted off the tarmac, showcasing how incredibly hard this year’s World Champion was pushing to stay ahead of his rival.
At Turn 6, the Factory Honda teammates of Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona would collide in a violent crash, with both riders walking away from the incident relatively unscathed, despite the pair seemingly frustrated with one another, and the Honda crew members in disbelief.
Razgatlioglu would lead Bulega for a few laps, the pair of them practically inseparable as they matched one another on average throughout the four sections of the circuit. The BMW of Razgatlioglu remained fast in the opening and third sector, whereas the Ducati of Bulega was faster down the back straight into Turn 6, and subsequently the middle and closing sectors.
At the halfway mark in this shorter, superpole sprint race, Bulega would dive to the inside of Razgatlioglu in the same way the pair ran when Razgatlioglu took the lead, this time as the Ducati of Bulega dived to the inside, the rookie managed to stretch the lead of the race over Razgatlioglu, with just a few laps remaining.
Further down the order, Dominique Aegerter and Jonathan Rea would duel for ninth place, Aegerter as a rookie this season, recording one of his best results with a solid Top 10 finish after Alvaro Bautista managed to recover to ninth place, overtaking both Aegerter and Rea in the closing laps, even making contact with former rival Jonathan Rea at Turn 6, cutting across the Brit’s Yamaha.
Nicolo Bulega would come across the line to take victory in the Superpole race, therefore also claiming pole position for Race 2, with Toprak Razgatlioglu a few seconds further down the road in second place.
WorldSBK Jerez Superpole Race – Top 10 Results
1st Nicolo Bulega, Ducati
2nd Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW
3rd Alex Lowes, Kawasaki
4th Danilo Petrucci, Ducati
5th Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha
6th Michael van der Mark, BMW
7th Andrea Iannone, Ducati
8th Garrett Gerloff, BMW
9th Alvaro Bautista, Ducati
10th Dominique Aegerter, Yamaha
These results also determined the grid order for Race 2, the final race of the 2024 World Superbike Championship, with the two leaders in the standings both starting on the front row of the grid.
Race 2
The final race of the championship would not disappoint, giving fans a fantastic send off into the winter break, with Nicolo Bulega and Toprak Razgatlioglu duelling over the victory once again, as other riders throughout the field also entertained, particularly Andrea Iannone, who rode like a man possessed, attempting to claim a final podium finish in his debut WorldSBK season.
Nicolo Bulega would make it three out of three holeshots, maintaining his lead of the race heading down into Turn 1, as Andrea Locatelli attempted to ride around the outside of Toprak Razgatlioglu, to no avail. Further behind, Andrea Iannone would attack fellow compatriot Danilo Petrucci, the pair diving to the inside of one another at Turns 8 and 9, with Iannone eventually winning out after cutting Petrucci off at the apex of Turn 9, a risky but bold move.
Andrea Locatelli and Alex Lowes would find themselves battling once again in Race 2, scrapping over third place, the final step on the podium. Locatelli managed to survive Lowes’ first attack on Lap 2 at Turn 6, the Pedrosa corner (named after Dani Pedrosa from MotoGP) evidently proving to be the most popular corner to attempt an overtake at, particularly for the bikes faster on straights.
On Lap 3, after running nose to tail, Razgatlioglu would somehow execute a huge dive-bomb manoeuvre at Turn 1, certainly surprising Bulega, who would be unable to respond at Turn 2. Michael van der Mark would also move into fourth place, overtaking Alex Lowes at Turn 6, with Andrea Iannone just behind the pair of them in sixth place, as the three riders closed on Andrea Locatelli for a four-rider battle for third place.
Just one lap later, van der Mark would also manage to get past Locatelli for third place, whilst Iannone would also get past Lowes, attempting to follow van der Mark’s BMW. Meanwhile, at the very front of the field, Razgatlioglu extended his lead over Bulega, attempting to finally beat the Italian on the track in this Jerez round.
Lowes would attempt a move on Locatelli at the final corner, with Locatelli being surprised by the Kawasaki on the inside, running wide and allowing for both Lowes and Iannone to come through. On the very next lap, Danilo Petrucci would also find his way past Locatelli, the Italian losing multiple positions in just a couple of laps.
Alvaro Bautista would also attempt to overtake Locatelli just a lap later, at Turn 6, however the reigning champion would have a gear selector problem, the Ducati Panigale V4 stalling on the exit of Turn 6, allowing multiple riders to come through on Bautista.
The race would come to a close for Bautista, as the Spaniard capped off a disappointing season by crashing at Turn 6 just a couple of laps later, Bautista losing the championship at the last round in Estoril, and now crashing three times in three races at Jerez.
With just 10 laps remaining, Iannone would attempt a move for third place, diving down the inside of Michael van der Mark at the final corner, the pair making contact as Iannone would be forced to run wide, nearly crashing. The Italian would lose multiple places, running sixth place and losing all the progress the 2024 World SBK season debutant had made.
Nicolo Bulega would attempt a couple of moves on Toprak Razgatlioglu at the half distance mark, with tyre grip increasingly becoming a worrying factor for many riders. Iannone meanwhile, would manage to overtake Petrucci and Lowes and reclaim fourth place, the Italian attempting to close the gap back down to van der Mark, who was just a couple of seconds in front.
However, with four laps remaining, Philipp Oettl’s Yamaha would have smoke pouring from the rear of the bike, spreading oil across the circuit as well down the front straight. The race would be red-flagged, and the session would not resume, meaning that Toprak Razgatlioglu ended the season by winning the final race of the year, from Nicolo Bulega, who had just been denied what could have been a grand slam, by winning every race in the weekend.
WorldSBK Jerez Race 2 – Top 10 Results
1st Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW
2nd Nicolo Bulega, Ducati
3rd Michael van der Mark, BMW
4th Andrea Iannone, Ducati
5th Alex Lowes, Kawasaki
6th Danilo Petrucci, Ducati
7th Garrett Gerloff, BMW
8th Andrea Locatelli, Yamaha
9th Jonathan Rea, Yamaha
10th Axel Bassani, Kawasaki
The World Superbike Championship has come to a close, with Toprak Razgatlioglu as the World Champion with BMW. There have been many stories throughout the season which ensures that the 2024 WorldSBK season, will be remembered as a classic.
