Superbike / Catalonia, Race 1: Razgatlioglu overtakes Bulega on the last lap

First unexpected victory

Race 1 of the Catalunya Round seemed to reward Nicolò Bulega once again, very close to his second victory in Race 1 after the success achieved on his debut in Superbike in Australia. Instead, as Vujadin Boskov, coach of Italian champion Sampdoria in the early 1990s, used to say, “game over when referee blows his whistle”. In this case we had to wait the last lap to see an unexpected change in leadership, with the experience of Toprak Razgatlioglu in tire management which allowed the Turkish driver to win the first Superbike victory with BMWa few hours after the first pole position.

Continuous twists and turns

At first, in reality, the real protagonist of Race 1 seemed to be Sam Lowes, author of a formidable start which, after several attempted attacks on Razgatlioglu, even allowed him to take the lead of the race. A perfect start for the English driver (unlike Rea, who was immediately forced to retire), however irremediably ruined on the 4th lap due to a fall at turn 10. An error that allowed Razgatlioglu to regain the top of the standings, only to lose it shortly afterwards due to overtaking by Bulega, who did well to climb back up after a start that had seen him relegated to sixth position. From that moment, at least until the second half of the race, the outcome of the race seemed almost decided: with the constant increase of the gap on Razgatlioglu, the rookie had all the credentials to be able to cross the finish line first ahead of the 2001 world champion, with Iannone in 3rd place. However, the real revolution took shape at Ducati, for better or for worse. On the one hand he gave his best Alvaro Bautistawho started from 14th place on the grid following a penalty and did well to overtake Iannone a three laps to go, thus climbing onto the podium. On the other hand, Bulega had to give up the victory on the last lap, thanks to a drastic decline in tyres. An unscheduled move that allowed Razgatlioglu to quickly catch up on the Emilian driver, until denying him success on the last lap, obtaining his first success on the BMW.

Superbikes | Catalonia 2024, Race 1: order of arrival

Upcoming events

Catalunya round which will end tomorrow with the last two races remaining, starting with Superpole Race. This one, scheduled at 11:00 am, can be followed live both on Sky Sport Max and, free-to-air, on TV8. Different story for Race 2in this case scheduled at 2pm but broadcast live only by Sky Sport Max. Alternatively, it will be possible to watch the last act of the weekend in Barcelona again on TV8, but deferred and at 4.15pm.