On a windy day at the Autodrom Most Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed his fifth win of the season.
The Turkish rider clawed five points back in the title chase against Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Race 1 Highlights
Starting from the middle of the front row Bulega claimed the lead on the opening lap and held Razgatlioglu at bay for the first four laps. Having attacked into Turn 1 the BMW rider then led for the remainder of the race.
Razgatlioglu had to wait until half distance, lap 11 of 22, to open a gap of over a second and from that point onwards he controlled the gap to Bulega.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) started third and rode a strong, consistent race to finish in the same position with a comfortable margin in hand to the riders behind.
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) finished in fourth position after a race long battle with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team). He was beaten to the line by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who made a last lap move into Turn 1 to take fifth position.
Bautista started the race from the fourth row of the grid. He dropped to 16th position at one point following a first lap tangle that left Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) out of the race. The double World Champion made steady progress throughout to salvage his fifth place finish.
Iker Lecuona continued his strong form of late with a seventh place finish for Honda HRC.
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“This was a very important victory because we started the weekend really strong. I’ve really missed this feeling. The wind was very strong today so at the beginning of the race I was trying to adapt my riding style but once I found my rhythm I had a fast pace. This win means a lot. We’ve improved the bike a lot but we still need more. We have two more races tomorrow and I hope we can win again.”
P2 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I tried to fight at the beginning. But when Toprak overtook me, I could understand after just a few corners that he had something extra today. I’m happy because second place is a very good result, especially after yesterday’s crash. It wasn’t easy to finish the race so I have to be happy and proud of what we achieved, both myself and the team.”
P3 – Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team)
“I tried to follow my strategy and hold onto third position because Nicolo and Toprak were a bit faster. They weren’t much faster but I was taking risks to stay with them. When I saw the gap behind me was increasing I decided to manage my pace. It wasn’t easy—this track has so many direction changes, and my back and arms were really suffering. This is a great podium for my team. I’m so happy, we’re working really well together, and this result is well deserved. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Race 1 Results
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
Tissot Superpole Highlights
A late yellow flag saw Toprak Razgatlioglu’s fastest lap deleted but the Turkish rider still claimed a 20th career Superpole
After a heavy crash in Friday practice Bulega’s strong performance in the Superpole session showed what to expect from him for the rest of the day. His lap time, 1’30.430, was just 0.033s slower than Razgatlioglu.
While the yellow flags left the front row of the grid unchanged it left Sam Lowes further down the field than expected. Lowes was dropped from fourth on the grid to ninth.
Superpole Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’30.397s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.033s
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.239s
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