RoKiT BMW’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Pata Proteon Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea have both been sidelined from this weekend’s WorldSBK action at Cremona due to injuries sustained in Magny Cours. 

Razgatliolgu missed the previous round of action after a crash during the second free practice session caused a mild pneumothorax injury, while Rea withdrew following his crash on Lap 1 in Race 1. 

Championship leader Razgatlioglu was hoping to return to racing at Cremona, but decided to withdraw following further medical examinations and consultations with ROKiT BMW’s team doctors. 

The Turkish rider will be replaced this weekend by BMW test rider Markus Reitenberger. 

“I would have loved to be back on track in Cremona, but the recovery of the mild pneumothorax is taking longer than I initially hoped,” Razgatlioglu said. 

“It’s important that I make a full recovery, and my goal now is to return to my BMW M 1000 RR at the next race weekend at Motorland Aragón, but we need to wait and take it step by step. 

“One thing is certain: as soon as possible and when my health allows, I will rejoin the championship fight! 

“I’ll be rooting for my team in Cremona, and I hope to see the BMW M 1000 RR at the front and on the podium.”

“Toprak’s complete recovery is the top priority for everyone,” said Head of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, Sven Blusch.

“Everything else takes a back seat for now, that’s why we decided together that he will not return to racing at Cremona.

“He’s in good hands and working closely with the medical team to get back on his BMW M 1000 RR by the next race weekend at Motorland Aragón. 

“However, we will take all the time needed. In Markus Reiterberger, we have an excellent stand-in for Cremona, who brings a wealth of experience with the bike, WorldSBK, the team, and BMW Motorrad Motorsport.

“He will focus on basic and preparation work during the weekend, gathering crucial information so that Toprak can fight for the championship with the best possible material after his comeback.”

Jonathan Rea replaced by Niccolo Canepa at Cremona WorldSBK round

Razgatlioglu’s absence follows the announcement that Pata Proteon Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea has also withdrawn from the weekend to recover from the thumb injury he also sustained at Magny Cours. 

Rea will be replaced by Nicolo Canepa, who is retiring from racing after this weekend’s action.

“Based on current medical advice, both from his surgeon in France and local medical team in Northern Ireland, Jonathan Rea will miss the Italian Round in order to allow the skin graft and internal repairs to his right thumb to fully heal – with eyes firmly fixed on a return in Aragon next week.” Pata Proteon Yamaha said in a press release. 

“Rea withdrew from the French Round in Magny-Cours following a crash at the end of Lap 1 in Race 1 and underwent emergency surgery in Clermont-Ferrand on 7 September. 

“The Northern Irishman has since focused on recovery at home, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions to assist healing.

“Yamaha’s Official Test and Development Rider, Niccolò Canepa, will ride the Pata Prometeon Yamaha R1 WorldSBK in Cremona – joining the team for one final dance before his retirement from professional racing. 

“Last weekend, Canepa finished third with his teammates for the Yamalube YART Yamaha EWC Official Team at the 24-hour Bol d’Or race at Paul Ricard.”

The post Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea sidelined for Cremona WorldSBK round appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu made it four hat-tricks in a row with his WorldSBK Race 2 victory at Portimao, but he was made to fight for it.

The Turkish rider won out in the closest finish of the year, beating Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega by just 0.035s.

The top nine finishers from the Superpole Race lined up as they finished for Sunday evening’s Race 2 at Portimao with Razgatlioglu, Barni Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci and Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes getting ready to set off for 20 laps from the front row.

For the second time on Sunday, Petrucci got the holeshot, but he lost the lead to Razgatlioglu at Turn 3 and second to the Turkish rider’s BMW team-mate Michael van der Mark.

Lowes then came through to claim second by the time the field reached the Turn 5 hairpin.

The no.22 Kawasaki rider was on a mission, trying his best to challenge Razgatlioglu into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 2 of 20, but to no avail.

However, Razgatlioglu headed wide at Turn 5, letting Lowes through to take the lead.

The weekend up to this point belonged to Razgatlioglu, but his BMW team-mate Van der Mark slipstreamed past him and Lowes to take the lead at the start of Lap 3.

Lowes repaid the favour a lap later, with Razgatlioglu and the Aruba.it Racing Ducati pairing of Bulega and Alvaro Bautista watching on.

Team GoEleven Ducati rider Andrea Iannone also joined in on the fun in sixth with Petrucci not too far behind as the race was hotting up.

Through to Lap 5, and Lowes had the fastest lap in his pocket and a modest lead of five-tenths of a second over Razgatlioglu, who passed his team-mate into Turn 1, with Bautista doing the same to his.

Razgatlioglu fought to get on Lowes’ tail by the end of Lap 5, drafting past the Kawasaki rider on the start/finish straight and losing a winglet in the process as he returned to the front.

Meanwhile, Bautista made his way up to third at van der Mark’s expense, with Iannone now closing on the Dutchman in fifth.

Lowes’ early charge to the front was fading as Bautista pulled into second at the start of Lap 8 as van der Mark fought hard to keep Bulega at bay.

Van der Mark eventually succumbed, slipping to fifth, then to sixth as Iannone swept into fifth at Turn 1 on Lap 9.

Bautista meanwhile, was in hard pursuit of Razgatlioglu, doing his best to stop yet another win for the Turkish rider.

As the race approached halfway distance, the gap between the top two remained at 1.2s with Bautista enjoying a slight gap over Bulega and Lowes.

On Lap 13, the gap had more than halved and Razgatlioglu now had Bautista for close company.

With six laps to go, sure enough, Bautista was right on Razgatlioglu’s rear wheel and with five laps to go he put a block pass on the Turkish rider to take the lead at Turn 3.

Razgatlioglu responded at Turn 5, running slightly deep but it was no matter, Bautista went down!

The Spaniard lost the front of his Ducati Panigale V4R, handing Razgatlioglu a slight reprieve and promoting Bulega up to second.

Bulega was by no means ready to settle for that and challenged Razgatlioglu down the start/finish straight moments after inheriting second.

With only a handful of laps remaining a duel was on between the two riders.

On Lap 19 of 20, Bulega had another look at Razgatlioglu but didn’t have enough pace to draft past the BMW into Turn 1.

Onto the Final Lap and the Italian had the same problem and would need to look elsewhere if he were to stop Razgatlioglu from winning for the 13th time in succession.

Bulega went close at the line, but it wasn’t enough as Razgatlioglu set a fourth hat-trick of wins in a row.

Lowes completed the podium with Iannone the top independent rider in fourth, ahead of Petrucci, who completed the top five.

Pata Prometeon Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea had his best result of the weekend in sixth with van der Mark closing his weekend with a seventh-place finish.

Bonovo’s Garrett Gerloff made it three BMWs in the top-10 with eighth, with Honda’s Xavi Viege finishing a commendable ninth.

GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team’s Dominique Aegerter secured another top-10 finish beating 11th-placed Pata Prometeon Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli.

Aegerter’s team-mate Remy Garnder took 12th with Honda’s Iker Lecuona, Bonovo’s Scott Redding and Kawasaki’s Axel Bassani closing out the points to 15th.

The post Razgatlioglu seals hat-trick with WorldSBK Race 2 victory at Portimao appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu took his win count to 12 in a row, a new WorldSBK record, with victory during Sunday’s Superpole Race at Portimao.

The Turkish rider was able to comfortably lead the 10 lap proceedings with an intense battle for second giving him several seconds of breathing room.

By the time the race was run, Barni Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci took the runner-up prize with Kawasaki Racing Team’s Alex Lowes in third.

10 Laps of fast-paced WorldSBK action got underway in the heat of the Portugal sun with Petrucci launching from third to first at the start.

Just like Race 1 on Saturday, Razgatlioglu fell to third with Kawasaki’s Lowes taking second into Turn 1.

Once again Alvaro Bautista had a slow start on his Ducati, dropping from sixth to eighth.

As the field came across the finish line for the first time, Petrucci led from Lowes, Razgatlioglu, BMW’s Michael van der Mark, Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega and Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea.

To start Lap 2, Razgatlioglu was able to sweep into first down into Turn 1, with Lowes following him.

Van der Mark tried to get his way past Petrucci into Turn 3, but things got tight and both riders had to sit up to avoid a collision.

Rea, riding without technical trouble that plagued him on Saturday, sythed his way into the top five past Bulega into Turn 1 on the start of Lap 3, but the Ducati man was able to respond just a few corners later.

On Lap 4, Bautista tried his hand at passing Rea into Turn 1, but ran too deep, necessitating a tough block pass on the Yamaha rider at Turn 3 to make a move into the top six stick.

Meanwhile, out in front, Razgatlioglu set about attaining his record-setting 12th win on the bounce, opening his advantage to just over one second as the field crossed the line to start Lap 5.

Tough passes were seeing Rea fall backwards, with Honda’s Xavi Vierge and Team GoEleven Ducati rider Andrea Iannone displacing the six-time World Champion to ninth through the opening two corners.

Razgatlioglu looked like he would remain unchallenged by the time Lap 6 came around as Petrucci fought his way past Lowes to take second, with the second ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider van der Mark making it a three-way battle for second.

That became a four-way battle on Lap 6 as Bulega got on van der Mark’s tail to round out the top five with Bautista not too far behind.

Barring disaster, the win looked like a forgone conclusion as Toprak enjoyed a two-second lead with three and a half laps to go.

Lowes tried his hand at snatching second from Petrucci with an overzealous move at the start of Lap 9, which didn’t come off and saw him surrender third to van der Mark.

On the final lap, Lowes put in a strong move to reclaim third at Turn 8, but that by no means settled the podium contest.

That was no matter to Razgatlioglu who stormed across the finish line to take his historic 12th win in as many attempts, a feat never before achieved in WorldSBK.

Petrucci improved upon his third-place result in Race 1 to take second with Lowes hanging onto third over fourth-placed van der Mark.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati duo of Bulega and Bautista took fifth and sixth respectively with Vierge coming home an impressive seventh aboard the normally uncompetitive Team HRC Honda Fireblade CBR 1000 RR-R machine.

GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team’s Dominique Aegerter came home eighth with Iannone taking the final Superpole Race point in ninth.

Sadly for Rea, his difficult season aboard the Pata Prometeon YZF R1 looks set to continue as despite starting amongst the top runners, the Northern Irishman fell out of the points to 10th.

The post Razgatlioglu makes history with WorldSBK Superpole race win at Portimao appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu took a record-equalling 11th straight WorldSBK win with victory during Race 1 at Portimao, finishing ahead of a resurgent Alvaro Bautista and courageous Danilo Petrucci.

Razgatlioglu lined up on pole with 10 consecutive race wins in his back pocket, alongside Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes and Barni Ducati’s Petrucci, who started on the front row for the first time in 2024.

That left the Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s duo of Nicolo Bulega and Bautista to start on the second row of the grid, with Razgatlioglu’s BMW team-mate Michael van der Mark sat between them.

Lowes got the holeshot with Petrucci following him into Turn 1 to displace Razgatlioglu to third at lights out, as Bautista suffered a shocking start, falling from sixth to 13th.

However, by Turn 5, the championship leader was back in second with Jonathan Rea challenging Michael van der Mark for fifth throughout the opening lap.

Van der Mark, like Rea, was looking racey and pounced on Bulega on Lap 2 of 20 to take fourth, with sixth-placed Rea making it a genuine three-way battle.

Rea followed van der Mark’s lead to pass Bulega on Lap 3, with the Yamaha rider looking at a season-best in the early stages.

Razgatlioglu challenged Lowes into Turn 1 on Lap 4, but the Kawasaki driver held his nerve as Petrucci also tried his hand at lunging upon the top two.

Rea’s strong race almost came to an untimely end that same lap as he lost the front of his Yamaha R1 in pursuit of van der Mark at Turn 13, dropping down to seventh as a result.

Starting Lap 5 saw Petrucci take the lead over Lowes with Razgatlioglu now third with his BMW team-mate right on his tail.

An incredible battle was unfolding in the top four as Razgatlioglu punched his way into second at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 6, only to run deep at Turn 5 to lose ground to Lowes once again, slotting back in front of van der Mark.

Turn 1 was the prime passing location with the steep downward braking zone and both BMWs drafted past Lowes at the start of Lap 7.

Lowes was able to fight his way back in front of van der Mark, which saw Petrucci and Razgatlioglu open up a 1.1s gap at the front of the field with 12 laps remaining.

Lowes and van der Mark’s fight also invited Bulega and Bautista into the fight for the podium.

Meanwhile, popping out of the slipstream on the start/finish straight was Razgatlioglu, passing Petrucci into Turn 1 only to relinquish the lead as the pair got to Turn 2 on Lap 10.

Further back, Bulega dropped from fifth to seventh with Bautista and Bonovo Action BMW rider Garrett Gerloff progressing at the Italian’s expense.

Bautista continued to show strong pace as he pushed past Lowes to take fourth at Turn 4 on Lap 11.

Starting Lap 12, with nine full tours remaining, Razgatlioglu got passed Petrucci into Turn 1, but once again the Barni Ducati rider was quick to respond, pulling a block pass to regain the lead at Turn 3.

This brought van der Mark and Bautista into the fight, with four riders now nose to tail.

On Lap 13, Razgatlioglu made his Turn 1 move stick and van der Mark looked to follow him at Turn 3, but Petrucci fought hard to retain second, giving the championship leader some slight breathing room out in front.

Van der Mark fell to fourth at the start of Lap 14 to Bautista, as Razgatlioglu stretched his advantage over Petrucci to seven-tenths of a second.

With six laps to go, Petrucci then slashed that advantage to four-tenths with the race far from being settled.

Petrucci was pulling Bautista along with him and the reigning champion, running in third was the fastest rider on the track with five laps to go.

On Lap 17, just over five tenths covered the top three and an 11th straight win for Razgatlioglu looked far from being certain.

Razgatiolglu looked to extend his slight advantage and he was helped as the two Ducatis battled through the opening few corners on Lap 18 with Bautista eventually winning out to sit second with two and a half laps to go.

Bautista had eight-tenths to recover at this stage, but could he pull it off?

With two laps to go, it looked as if Razgatlioglu had put the battle to bed, extending his advantage to one second over his long-time rival.

The Turkish rider extended that advantage to 1.2s with a lap to go and duly converted that to claim his record-equalling 11th straight victory.

Razgatlioglu now shares that record with Bautista, who recovered well from his poor start to finish second and despite falling back in the final few laps, Petrucci finished a fine third.

Gerloff’s strong ride was rewarded with an impressive fourth-place finish, with Lowes eventually finishing fifth aboard the Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10RR.

Van der Mark looked set to complete a ROKiT BMW one-two early on, but the Dutchman faded slightly to finish sixth aboard his M 1000 RR, one place ahead of Bulega.

Lowes’ Kawasaki team-mate Axel Bassani finished eighth, with GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team’s Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner completing the top-10.

Pata Prometeon Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli finished 11th, Iker Lecuona leading the Team HRC charge in 12th, ahead of his Honda team-mate Xavi Vierge.

Puccetti Racing Kawasaki rider Tito Rabat took 14th with Rea’s early race promise failing to reap much reward as he finished in the final points paying position.

The post Razgatlioglu takes record-equalling WorldSBK win at Portimao appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu picked up his fourth WorldSBK pole position on the bounce and fifth of 2024 at the Portuguese Portimao circuit on Friday.

The Turkish ace is amid a dominant run having won the last 10 races aboard the M 1000 RR machine and he put himself in the best position possible to extend that run in Portugal with an impressive qualifying effort.

Razgatlioglu’s time of 1:39.783s bettered Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes by 0.104s, with Barni Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci impressing in third, just 0.188s off of the pace to secure a front-row start for Race 1 in Portugal.

After taking his fourth pole position in a row and fifth of the year, Razgatlioglu told WorldSBK in parc ferme “I’m feeling really good. The bike balance is good I did a very good lap time.

“It’s just the last lap I did a very small mistake, the last sector especially I lost one tenth. But anyway, we did pole position again this is good, I’m happy for this.

“Now I’m just focussed on Race 1 because this is really important for me, I need another win. But we will see, this weekend is very hard because everyone is very strong and it’s very hot conditions.

“We will see, I’m ready to fight.”

Lowes was in high spirits after taking second in Superpole, saying “I’m happy with that. We need to be on the first two rows to give ourselves a chance to be in the fight.”

After securing his first front row start of 2024, Petrucci said “Finally, a good qualifying. Sincerely, I’m really happy since yesterday.

“We found a really good feeling with the bike, but since the beginning of the year my team is working really well.”

On a recovery charge from a monumental motocross accident earlier in the year, Petrucci added that “the only bad thing is my right arm that I completely have no power.”

Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega is Razgatlioglu’s closest challenger in the Riders’ standings, 64 points adrift of the Turkish rider and three and a half tenths behind during qualifying to secure fourth.

BMW had both its riders feature in the top five on the leaderboard after an entertaining Superpole session with Michael van der Mark posting the fifth-fastest effort aboard his M 1000 RR, 0.463s back from his team-mate.

Alvaro Bautista’s title defence aboard the second Aruba.it Racing Ducati continues to look like an uphill battle and the Spaniard could only place sixth in Superpole, over five and half tenths off of the ultimate pace set by Razgatlioglu.

There was an improved showing for the Pata Prometeon Yamaha squad, with riders Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea posting the seventh and eighth quickest times respectively.

Confirming BMW’s prowess around the undulating Portimao course was Bonovo BMW rider Garett Gerloff, who slotted himself into the top-10 with the ninth-fastest qualifying time, 0.688s off of Razgatlioglu’s leading effort for the German marque.

The top-10 was completed by GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider Dominique Aegerter, with the Swiss rider 0.722s back from Razgatlioglu’s pole time.

The post Razgatlioglu takes WorldSBK pole at Portimao appeared first on Motorsport Week.

 Toprak Razgatlioglu’s manager Kenan Sofuoğlu is reported to have informed BMW that the Turkish rider wants to make a switch over to MotoGP for the 2025 season.

Razgatlioglu’s current deal with BMW is a two-year deal which expires at the end of 2025, but Sofuoğlu suggests that a MotoGP clause could be included in the terms..

Sofuoğlu told Speedweek: “There is a lot of interest in Toprak in the MotoGP paddock, already for next year. 

“We have a two-year contract with BMW, but I have already informed BMW that we want to leave the Superbike World Championship at the end of this year and move to MotoGP. 

“I explained to them that this is Toprak’s wish.”

Sofuoğlu stated that Razgatlioglu will make the plunge providing he is offered a position with a works squad, but both KTM and Ducati have filled up their 2025 seats.

The options available appear slim and would leave him with Honda as the sole choice as Aprilia is pursuing Marco Bezzecchi’s signature to partner with Jorge Martin.

Despite winning the 2021 WorldSBK championship with Yamaha, Razgatlioglu ended his affiliation with the Japanese marque at the end of last term to move to BMW.

Razgatlioglu is no stranger to GP bikes, however, having completed several private tests with Yamaha on an M1 through the nascent stages of the previous campaign.

BWM is understood to be looking at a potential MotoGP venture in 2027, which will coincide with the biggest shake-up to the regulations throughout the MotoGP era.

It has been suggested that the current WorldSBK championship leader could move over should BMW decide to enter MotoGP, but he would’ve turned 30 at that stage.

The post Razgatlioglu informs WSBK BMW he wants MotoGP move appeared first on Motorsport Week.

BMW Motorrad Motorsport Sporting Director Marc Bongers was left “speechless” after his star rider Toprak Razgatlioglu sealed a historic WorldSBK treble at Misano last weekend.

Before the weekend started, Razgatlioglu was adamant his target was to win all three races and the Turkish rider had all the reason to be confident after topping May’s Misano test.

Still, despite bringing BMW back to winning ways this season, Razgatlioglu hadn’t achieved a hattrick of race victories since the 2022 season and the German marque had never achieved the feat ahead of the weekend.

But Razgatlioglu delivered on his promise, winning all three Misano races from a lap record pole position on Ducati’s home turf.

“I am speechless,” said Bongers.

“It was an absolutely brilliant weekend. We came here with a bit of hope, but to dominate like this at Ducati’s home round was incredible.

“After the test we had here beforehand, we knew we were in good shape but now we’ve broken all records: lap record, fastest race lap, pole position, three race wins, and we lead the championship with Toprak.

“It’s fantastic for the team, fantastic for the brand. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this huge success.”

Razgatlioglu entered the Misano weekend six points behind former championship leader Alvaro Bautista, who could only muster a pair of third-place finishes in the main races and 17th in the Superpole race aboard his Arubat.it Racing – Ducati.

Instead, the ROKiT BMW Motorrad team leader Razgatlioglu saw his closest challenge come from Ducati’s rookie rider, Nicolo Bulega, who scored a hat-trick of second-place finishes.

That leaves Razgatlioglu 21 points ahead of Bulega and on top of the Riders’ standings and the Turkish rider was happy with his weekend’s work.

“Before the weekend, I said that it’s my target to get three wins this weekend,” he said.

“Finally I did it. Thank you very much to my team because they did an incredible job this weekend.

“Especially [Sunday], we again improved the bike and I felt more relaxed on it.

“I really enjoyed the final race especially. It wasn’t an easy race for anyone because of the hot conditions. Everyone was sliding more. But we did a really great job.

“This is team work because I can not win on my own. Everyone really works hard and now we finally took three wins on a weekend. And it looks like this is just the start. Thanks to everybody!”

The post Bongers ‘speechless’ after Razgatlioglu WorldSBK treble at Misano appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu stylishly sealed a hat-trick of WorldSBK race wins at Misano with a commanding victory in Race 2 in Emilia Romagna, Italy.

After winning the first two races of the weekend and targeting a hat trick earlier in the week, Razgatlioglu successfully achieved his target from pole position on Sunday afternoon.

However, after a frenetic opening lap, the Turkish rider was made to work for it in the early stages.

Bulega narrowly claimed the holeshot over Andrea Iannone, followed by Alex Lowes, Andrea Locatelli and Razgatlioglu, who fell from pole position to fifth.

But the BMW rider was brave into Turn 10 to force his way into third.

By the end of the lap he was second courtesy of a Turn 14 block pass on Lowes and had to set about chasing Bulega who had crafted an early lead due to the chaos behind.

Meanwhile, Iannone was dropping like a stone, falling all the way to 10th as he struggled with an apparent issue on his Team GoEleven Ducati.

As Razgatlioglu gave chase to Bulega, who was 1,5s up the road on Lap 4, Lowes was hitching a tow on the BMW rider, just 1.3s back in third place.

Alvaro Bautista wasn’t having as easy a time of it in fourth, with the reigning champion looking unlikely to trouble the top three in the early stages.

Razgatlioglu wanted a hattrick of wins and with 16 laps to go it was looking more and more realistic as the Turkish rider closed right in on Bulega’s rear wheel.

The BMW ace made his move at Turn 8 with 14 laps to go and successfully held off Bulega down the back straight to hold the lead.

Nobody else could run close to the leading duo with Lowes having fallen six seconds behind Bulega, leading to Bautista sniffing all over the rear of the Kawasaki ZX-10RR machine.

With 10 laps to go Bautista successfully made his way past Lowes into third, but having had to fight through the pack thanks to his crash in the Superpole race, the Spaniard was 10 seconds off of the race lead.

Bautista wasn’t the only Ducati rider who could forget challenging for the win, with Razgatlioglu lapping an incredible eight-tenths of a second quicker than second place Bulega, extending the lead to over three seconds with eight laps to go.

Razgatlioglu’s lead had grown to four seconds with 5 laps to go and the fight for victory looked all but settled.

But the fight for third was still raging with Lowes failing to lose his grip on Bautista and Barni Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci engaged in a tussle with Kawasaki’s Axel Bassani for sixth.

From the moment he ascended into the lead, it looked like a forgone conclusion and BMW, a marque that has spent years in the WorldSBK doldrums entered dreamland as Razgatlioglu crossed the line to take three wins from three.

The dominant performance granted the Turkish rider a 21-point lead over second-place Bulega with Bautista settling for third in the race and Championship standings respectively.

Lowes finished a fine fourth for the Kawasaki Racing Team with Locatelli leading the line for Pata Prometeon Yamaha in fifth.

Just months after a nearly career-ending motocross crash, Petrucci crossed the line to take an emotional sixth, winning his duel with seventh-placed Bassani.

GYTR GRT Yamaha’s Remy Gardner finished eighth ahead of Team HRC Honda’s Iker Lecuona.

Jonathan Rea held onto a top-10 finish ahead of Iannone with Scott Redding finishing a much improved 12th on the Bonovo Action BMW M 1000 RR.

Marc VDS Ducati’s Sam Lowes recovered from two DNFs in the first two races to finish 13th with Puccetti Racing Kawasaki rider Tito Rabat and GMT94 Yamaha rider Philipp Oettl completing the points-scoring positions.

Team Motocorsa Racing’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished just outside the points in 16th with Yamaha Motoxracing’s Bradley Ray in 17th.

It was a race to forget for Bonovo’s Garrett Gerloff in 18th with Petronas MIE Racing Honda’s Tarran Mackenzie rounding out the finishers.

The post Razgatlioglu seals WorldSBK treble at Misano appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu blitzed the World Superbike field to win the Superpole Race at Misano.

The Turkish rider targeted winning all three races heading into the weekend and his triumph on Sunday morning put him just one win shy of his target.

Meanwhile, Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega could only hold onto second as his team-mate Alvaro Bautista crashed midway through the race.

Points were on offer to the top nine with 12 reserved for the winner and a single point reserved for the ninth-place finisher.

The 10-lap race was also important as the front three rows of the grid in Race 2 are determined by how the top nine finish in the Superpole race.

Bulega initially made the quickest getaway but ran wide at Turn 1 to allow Razgatlioglu back into the lead and Kawasaki Racing Team’s Alex Lowes into second.

Remy Gardner had a tricky start from the front row, falling back to eighth aboard his GYTR GRT Yamaha.

Bulega was quick to recover though, passing Lowes and Razgatlioglu by the time Lap 2 commenced.

Sam Lowes endured more misery on Lap 2 with his second crash in as many races aboard the Marc VDS Ducati and Gardner’s race went from bad to worse when he tangled with Bonovo Action rider Garrett Gerloff.

Bulega and Razgatlioglu were rampant out in front, setting lap-record pace and with seven laps to go the fight for victory was intense.

Razgatlioglu assumed the lead at Turn 8 on Lap 4, keeping his BMW M 1000 RR ahead of Bulega through the following sequence of corners and onto the back straight.

The Turkish rider pushed the lap record pace further, but Bulega couldn’t be dropped.

However, Alvaro Bautista dropped down the order, falling at Turn 10 on Lap 5 and tumbling from fourth to 21st.

Razgatlioglu consistently lapped in the 1:32 range, putting up a performance akin to qualifying to stretch his advantage over Bulega to nine-tenths of a second with three laps remaining.

The Turkish rider’s advantage grew to over one and a half seconds as he came around to start the final lap of the race.

Razgatlioglu crossed the line to sign off on a stylish win, extending his championship lead to 15 points over Bautista and demonstrating his brilliance aboard the BMW M 1000 RR.

Bulega finished 1.651s back in second and Alex Lowes completed the podium with a fine effort aboard his ZX-10RR.

Pata Prometeon Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli finished fourth for the second successive race with Team GoEleven Ducati’s Andrea Iannone completing the top five.

Lowes’ KRT team-mate Axel Bassani finished sixth, ahead of Team HRC Honda rider Iker Lecuona, who will be buoyed by an improved display with his CBR1000 RR-R.

Jonathan Rea finished eighth as he fights to rediscover his form on his new Yamaha YZF R1 steed and Barni Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci finished an impressive ninth as he continues to battle back from injury, securing his spot on the outside of row three for Race 2’s grid on Sunday afternoon.

GYTR GRT Yamaha’s Dominique Aegerter finished in 10th ahead of Motocorsa Ducati rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

Razgatlioglu’s extreme pace was exemplified by team-mate Michael van der Mark finishing 19 seconds back in 12th, although the Dutchman was plagued by a lowly 17th place grid slot.

Xavi Vierge finished 13th for Team HRC with Bonovo BMW rider Scott Redding and Puccetti Kawasaki pilot Tito Rabat finishing 14th and 15th respectively.

Ducati wildcard rider Michele Pirro finished in 16th ahead of Bautista, who remained scoreless as he could only recover to 17th after his crash.

18th went to Tarran Mackenzie on the Petronas MIE Racing Honda, leading fellow strugglers Philipp Oettl (GMT94 Yamaha) and Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing).

Adam Norrodin was the last of the finishers aboard the second Petronas MIE Racing Honda.

The post Two down, one to go for Razgatlioglu after Misano Superpole race victory appeared first on Motorsport Week.

ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu was unmatched during Race 1 at Misano, converting pole into his fourth victory of the 2024 WorldSBK campaign.

The Turkish rider settled into the lead early on and maintained a consistently quick pace to keep Aruba.it Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega and Alvara Bautista at arm’s length.

GYTR GRT Yamaha’s Remy Gardner snatched the holeshot at lights out from the outside of the first row ahead of Razagtlioglu and Bautista, with Bulega falling back to fourth on Lap 1 of 21.

Elsewhere, Xavi Verge’s race got off to a troublesome start with a fall in Sector 1.

A bad weekend for Jonathan Rea got worse with a heavy fall from his Pata Prometeon Yamaha at Turn 13.

Rea gingerly walked away but the Northern Irishman’s race was run.

Meanwhile, Bulega was in a tough tussle with Rea’s team-mate Andrea Locatelli and Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes, losing positions to the pair of them at the start of Lap 2 before getting Lowes back at Turn 8.

Bulega then fought his way back into fourth to join team-mate Bautista in pursuit of leaders Gardner and Razgatlioglu on Lap 3.

Gardner, in search of his first win, lost the lead to Razgatlioglu with the BMW rider moving into first at Turn 8 on Lap 4.

Razgatlioglu was ready to pull away almost immediately, stretching into a 0.7s advantage just a lap into leading the race as Gardner fell into the clutches of Bautista.

Bautista pounced with 16 laps to go to pinch second from Gardner at Turn 10 and Bulega followed suit with a brave manoeuvre on the American down the back straight.

The two Ducati riders were nose to tail with Bulega looking to find a way past his more experienced team-mate.

However, the Ducati fighting allowed Razgatlioglu to stretch his lead to almost two seconds by Lap 7 as Bautista struggled to hold onto the front of his Panigale V4R.

That was all the invitation Bulega needed to move up into second and the Italian set after race leader Razgatlioglu.

After leading early on, Gardner was struggling to maintain pace with the top free and on Lap 9 had started to hold up the likes of Locatelli, Lowes and Andra Iannone.

Locatelli clipped Gardner at Turn 2 before making a series of passing attempts as Lap 9 continued.

A block pass into Turn 1 on the start of Lap 10 got the move done for Locatelli and Gardner immediately had to contend with Lowes to hold onto fifth.

But the Australian couldn’t do anything to stop the Kawasaki rider from ascending into fifth at Turn 8.

As the race went beyond half distance, Razgatlioglu looked comfortable out in front with his lead over Bulega remaining at approximately two seconds.

Bautista found himself at this point in a ‘no man’s land’ third, a second adrift of his team-mate and nearly four seconds ahead of Locatelli.

With seven laps to go Sam Lowes’ mission to finish inside the top-10 came to an end with a crash at Turn 14 and the disgruntled Marc VDS rider rejoined having fallen to the back of the field.

Razgatlioglu controlled the pace out in front, but Bulega wasn’t done trying, outpacing the Turkish rider on Lap 15 by approximately two-tenths of a second.

BMW’s enigmatic Razgatlioglu was unfazed however and kept his head to keep his margin to Bulega in and around 1.9s.

It remained that way to the chequered flag as Razgatlioglu jubilantly crossed the start/finish line as the Race 1 victor, taking the championship lead by three points over Bautista in the process.

Bulega finished 1.782s back in second with Bautista 3.176s back from the race winner in third.

Locatelli and A. Lowes completed the top five with Gardner holding onto sixth.

Team GoEleven Ducati’s Iannone finished as the leading independent rider in seventh whilst Razgatlioglu’s team-mate Michael van der Mark recovered well from 17th on the grid to finish in eighth.

Barni Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci valiantly fought his injury woe to finish a respectable ninth with Team HRC Honda rider Iker Lecuona winning his battle with Kawasaki’s Axel Bassani to take 10th.

Garrett Gerloff benefited from multiple retirements to finish 12th on his Bonovo Action BMW M 1000 RR ahead of Ducati wildcard rider Michele Pirro.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished in 14th aboard the Motocorsa Ducati Panigale V4R and Gerloff’s Bonovo team-mate Scott Redding picked up the final point in 15th.

HRC’s Xavi Vierge recovered from his Lap 1 crash to finish in 16th ahead of GMT94 Yamaha’s Phillipp Oettl.

Yamaha MotoXRacing’s Bradley Ray finished 18th and after running in the points for the majority of the race, a late crash relegated Puccetti Kawasaki’s Tito Rabat to 19th.

Petronas MIE Racing Honda’s Adam Norrodin completed the finishers in 20th with S. Lowes, Dominique Aegerter, Tarran Mackenzie and Rea failing to finish.

The post Razgatlioglu converts pole into WorldSBK Race 1 victory at Misano appeared first on Motorsport Week.