Race 1 of the Estoril Round offered moments of high intensity in the fight for the podium area, but with the favorable side for victory almost never out of the question: Toprak Razgatlioglu. For the Turkish BMW driver, this is the first success after the accident that occurred in FP2 at Magny-Cours, which forced the #54 not to compete both in France and in Cremona. A joy for returning to the top step of the podium, achieved sixteen times in this world championship, which adds up to 2nd place for Nicolò Bulegaauthor of a beautiful comeback after the fight to the death with Jonathan Rea in the early stages of the race. The smiles return too Iker Lecuonafor the first time in the top-3 this season. A result that the Spaniard had been missing since Assen 2022, in what was then his first podium in Superbike. Race to forget, however, for Alvaro Bautista: after the fall in Superpole, the reigning champion repeated a similar mistake in Race 1, with his hopes of remaining in the title race now cancelled.
Race report
In dry track conditions but with strong winds, Razgatlioglu maintained the lead at the start, only to break away at the first corner very carefully. A slowdown that allowed Petrucci and Locatelli to gain the first two positions, with Rea, Bulega and Bautista behind them. During the first three laps, however, the great protagonist proved to be Locatelli, with the rider from Bergamo taking his Yamaha to the top of the standings ahead of Petrucci and Razgatlioglu. Furthermore, at this juncture, Bulega ran the serious risk of contact with Rea in an attempt to pass the latter in turn 3, to the point of having to let go of the accelerator and dropping back to eighth position.
From here, in fact, the Ducati rider’s great comeback began, with Razgatlioglu in the meantime taking the lead over Locatelli. On lap 6, the Yamaha rider was unable to maintain second place over Bautista, in the same lap in which Petrucci’s race ended prematurely due to a fall. An episode that favored Bulega’s recovery, also due to Bautista’s subsequent crash in turn 9, a fact which also allowed Locatelli to return to the podium area. A top-3 lost here too due to an error by #55, effectively granting Lecuona the great chance not only to gain third position, but also to aim for the 2nd place occupied by Bulega, not without putting pressure on #11 in the over the last five laps. With these final results, Razgatlioglu maintains the lead in the general classification with a 44-point advantage over Bulega, all while awaiting the Superpole Race and Race 2 scheduled for tomorrow, at 12:00 and 15:00 respectively.
Estoril 2024, Race 1: order of arrival
POS. | PILOT | MOTORCYCLE | TIME/GAP |
1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | BMW | 21 laps |
2 | Nicolò Bulega | Ducati | +9.221 |
3 | Iker Lecuona | Honda | +11.020 |
4 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki | +11,973 |
5 | Jonathan Rea | Yamaha | +14.018 |
6 | Garrett Gerloff | BMW | +17,727 |
7 | Michael van der Mark | BMW | +19,250 |
8 | Xavi Vierge | Honda | +23,589 |
9 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | +24,239 |
10 | Tito Rabat | Kawasaki | +30,893 |
11 | Michael Rinaldi | Ducati | +31.476 |
12 | Scott Redding | BMW | +31.702 |
13 | Sam Lowes | Ducati | +34.886 |
14 | Dominique Aegerter | Yamaha | +47.016 |
15 | Ivo Lopes | Honda | +48.226 |
16 | Bradley Ray | Yamaha | +51,000 |
17 | Philipp Öttl | Yamaha | +55,393 |
18 | Tarran MacKenzie | Honda | +2 turns |
19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati | +3 turns |
20 | Luca Bernardi | Yamaha | +3 turns |
21 | Andrea Locatelli | Yamaha | Fallen |
22 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | Fallen |
23 | Axel Bassani | Kawasaki | Fallen |
24 | Remy Gardner | Yamaha | Fallen |
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