Catalonia, Superpole Race: Razgatlioglu's last-gasp victory | FP

Razgatlioglu's trio

In Race 1 of the Barcelona Round Toprak Razgatlioglu he managed to get the better of Nicolò Bulega on the last lap, with an overtaking that allowed the Turkish driver to take his first victory with BMW a few hours after the first pole position. For the 2021 world champion, the first success came this morning also in the Superpole Race with the Bavarian manufacturer, and here too with a spectacular maneuver on the last lapthis time even closer to the finish line.

Attack on the last corner

At first, the Superpole Race actually highlighted some of the difficulties of the former Yamaha, especially highlighted at the start. Despite the start from pole, Sam Lowes once again emerged, exactly like in Race 1, to the point of taking the lead ahead of Bulega and Iannone. Furthermore, during the 2nd lap, there was a moment of glory for the Lowes brothers, with Alex jumping into second position for a few moments before witnessing Iannone's return to the top, with Sam who from that attack progressively lost positions until finishing outside the top-10. Different story for Alex, who also had to surrender to the rise of Bulega, Bautista and Razgatlioglu, all authors together with Iannone of a splendid series of overtaking and counter-overtaking in the last five laps, with continuous changes in leadership. A fight that, on the last lap, seemed to be able to reward the reigning world champion Alvaro Bautistaat least until at the last corner: with a decisive and beautiful overtaking inside Razgatlioglu, the #54 regained the top of the standings at the last minute, with Bautista also overtaken by Iannone on the finishing straight. Bulega was out of the top-3, as was Alex Lowes, who finished in fifth place under the checkered flag. An exhilarating start to Sunday that sends Superbike enthusiasts back to the appointment for Race 2final act of the second seasonal weekend scheduled at 2pm and live on Sky Sports Max but also in clear on TV8.