Unstoppable. After the absolute record of the most consecutive victories signed today in Superpole Pole, Toprak Razgatlioglu continued his golden moment in Race-2 on the Portimão circuit, triumphing for the fourth consecutive weekend by once again taking home Superpole, Race-1, Superpole Race and Race-2. The latter was actually a tougher appointment for the BMW rider, with the victory being put into question until the last metre by the two Ducati riders: Alvaro Bautista, who however fell five laps from the end, and Nicholas Bulega, 2nd in front of the Kawasaki of Alex Lowesbut only 35 thousandths of a second behind the world championship leader.
Race report
The start, once again, saw an excellent start by Danilo Petrucci, who immediately took the lead of the race right in front of Razgatlioglu. Already in turn 3, however, the #54 regained the lead of the race, with the rider of the Barni team slipping to fourth position due to the subsequent attacks of Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark, with Bulega 5th ahead of an excellent Andrea Iannone and Bautista. The possibility of seeing Razgatlioglu far from the top step of the podium apparently became more concrete the following lap, thanks to a long run in turn 5 that allowed Lowes to pass in front of everyone, just before the double overtaking by Van der Mark on the long straight of the finish line on the same British Kawasaki rider and his teammate Razgatlioglu. A battle for the top three places continued over the next two laps, until the decisive overtaking of the Turkish BMW rider on Lowes for the top of the standings on lap 5, despite losing the left front wing of the M1000 RR. In the same lap, moreover, Bautista climbed into the top three by passing Van der Mark, starting to make up ground on his rival. The comeback began to become more concrete in the second half of the race, during which the Spaniard got close to the world championship leader to try to interrupt his streak of victories. An objective that seemed to be achieved with five laps to go with a great battle between the two, which however ended at the entrance to turn 5 due to the Spaniard’s crash.
At that point, at Aruba.it – Ducati, Nicolò Bulega tried to successfully complete the mission, also very close to the BMW exhausts, but without managing to complete the attack on Razgatlioglu. A very small gap between the two, as demonstrated by the mere 35 thousandths of a second at the finish line.
Next appointment
Superbike is now taking a summer break, with the bikes set to rev up their engines over the weekend of September 6-8 for the eighth round of the world championship. Will we see more successes from Razgatlioglu, increasingly alone in the Riders’ standings, or will the Turkish #54’s domination be interrupted by another rider? The answer will come in France, on the Magny-Cours circuit.
Portimão 2024, Race 2: Finishing Order
| POS. | PILOT | MOTORCYCLE | TIME/GAP |
| 1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | BMW | 20 laps |
| 2 | Nicholas Bulega | Ducati | +0.035 |
| 3 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki | +6.299 |
| 4 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | +9.715 |
| 5 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | +11.318 |
| 6 | Jonathan Rea | Yamaha | +11.428 |
| 7 | Michael van der Mark | BMW | +11.518 |
| 8 | Garrett Gerloff | BMW | +16.231 |
| 9 | Xavi Vierge | Honda | +16.909 |
| 10 | Dominique Aegerter | Yamaha | +16.966 |
| 11 | Andrea Locatelli | Yamaha | +18.138 |
| 12 | Remy Gardner | Yamaha | +18.251 |
| 13 | Iker Lecuona | Honda | +18.959 |
| 14 | Scott Redding | BMW | +20.579 |
| 15 | Axel Bassani | Kawasaki | +20.934 |
| 16 | Michael Rinaldi | Ducati | +21.020 |
| 17 | Titus Rabat | Kawasaki | +23.318 |
| 18 | Bradley Ray | Yamaha | +23.418 |
| 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati | +24.551 |
| 20 | Ivo Lopez | Honda | +58.505 |
| 21 | Philipp Öttl | Yamaha | +1′ |
| 22 | Hafizh Syahrin | Ducati | +3 laps |
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