Toprak Razgatlioglu won the World Superbike Superpole Race Sunday morning at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portugal. Riding his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team M1000RR, the Turkish racer won the 10-lap race by just 0.055 seconds.
Rookie sensation, Nicolo Bulega was the runner-up on his Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Panigale V4R, and Alvaro Bautista was 4.352 seconds behind his teammate in third.
Danilo Petrucci finished his race fourth on his Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4R.
American Garrett Gerloff finished 16th on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Razgatlioglu’s 0.055s Superpole Race victory puts him 3rd all-time in career wins in WorldSBK. Toprak holds off Bulega to claim pole position for Race 2, Bautista recovers six positions to claim podium placement
Portimao’s Tissot Superpole Race kicked off racing action in the Pirelli Portuguese Round’s final day. The weekend up to this point had been a sweep for defending Riders’ Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), and Sunday’s opening Superpole Race kept his perfect weekend alive as he held off Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in a finish even tighter than in yesterday’s Race 1
TOPRAK P1 AGAIN BY JUST 0.055s: Ties Carl Fogarty for 3rd most wins all time with 59 wins
Razgatlioglu and Bulega battled once again in the first laps of the Superpole Race. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) followed up his Race 1 duel with Toprak by seizing the holeshot from the Turkish polesitter. He clung to P1 as Toprak made time on the Italian rider until in Turn 3 of Lap 5, when Razgatlioglu overtook him to go first. Bulega clung to his heels and almost passed the #1 exiting the race’s final corner as Toprak had a moment, trying to push his bike to the limit in the straight. Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) Portimao weekend had been a rollercoaster of its own up to this point, he began the Superpole race from P9 on the third row, climbing up to P5 by Lap 2, and by Lap 9, he sprung a move on Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in Turn 1to claim a spot on the podium in P3.
SAM LOWES STRONG AGAIN IN SUPERPOLE, Petrux P4, Locatelli P5, Sam Lowes P6
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) had been up around the top positions all weekend, P3 in the Superpole session, P4 in Race 1, and now finished the Superpole Race P4,snubbed from the podium by a streaking Bautista. While still a good result, it is a tough break for Petrucci who otherwise rode a clean race. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) was again the top performing Yamaha, earning a P5 start in the upcoming Race 2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) started the Superpole Race from P6, and finished in the same position, another strong result from the much-improved independent Ducati rider.
VIERGE AND LECUONA BACK TOGETHER ON THE TIMESHEET: P8 and P9 for the Factory Hondas
Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) began the race in P7 dropping temporarily to P11, then rectifying the situation in the last laps to recover P7 from Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC). Vierge and teammate Iker Lecuona both enjoyed a strong result for the Factory Honda pair, who earned a P8 and P9 starting position in Race 2. Recently having rejoined the grid after a litany of injuries, Lecuona had his best result of the season jumping up from his P11 grid position start.
The top nine from the WorldSBK Superpole Race, full results here!
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.055s
3. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +4.407s
4. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +5.327s
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +6.206s
6. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +7.976s
7. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +10.140s
8. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +10.398s
9. Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) +10.908s
Fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW – 1’39.441s (New race lap record)
Tune in for the final race action of the weekend at 14:00 local time (+1 UTC) with the WorldSBK VideoPass!