SBK | Barcelona, ​​Race 2: Bautista beats Bulega and returns to winning

It is a Superbike that continues to deliver exciting races right up until the checkered flag, even in Race 2 in Barcelona. The last event of the Spanish weekend was dominated by Ducati and Alvaro Bautista, who prevailed ahead of teammate Nicolò Bulega with an advantage of around two seconds.

However, in reality the race was much more lively and exciting than what the final ranking says, particularly during the first half of the Grand Prix. The first laps, in fact, saw numerous duels, with constant changes of position between the four reference riders, namely Bautista, Bulega, Andrea Iannone and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

The Spaniard from Ducati immediately took the lead with a burning sprint as the traffic lights went out, taking first place from the Turk from BMW who had instead started from pole position. Behind him, another all-Ducati battle immediately saw Bulega and Iannone fighting for second position, with a momentary hat-trick for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer.

Razgatlioglu immediately tried to react, once again overtaking the Ducati duo made up of the two Italians, thus moving back into second place behind Bautista. A second position, however, lasted only a few moments, because already in the following round the ranking changed again with continuous exchanges of positions, which this time however also involved Bautista.

In fact, with sixteen laps to go, Bulega made a double overtaking move, first overtaking the Turkish BMW, which was then followed by an attack on Bautista in turn one, which allowed him to momentarily take the lead. The Italian immediately tried to break away to see if there was a possibility of attempting a breakaway, extending his lead to around six tenths of a second over his teammate.

The attempt, however, did not give the desired results, even if it allowed Toprak Razgatlioglu to be definitively separated from him who, despite trying to stay as close as possible, suffered from tire degradation, in particular the spin problems of the rear tyre, thus suggesting him to manage until the end. After a couple of laps Bautista managed to close the gap to the top, returning to attacking range towards mid-race: with about ten laps left until the checkered flag, in fact, the reigning world champion managed to regain first position , which he did not abandon until the end.

Bulega tried to stay in the area in the hope of being able to take advantage of a mistake made by his teammate, but Bautista handled it excellently, even extending towards the end to take the victory with an advantage of around two seconds over the Italian.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Third was Razgatlioglu, author of an excellent weekend with BMW which saw him achieve three podiums in as many races. The Turk's third place was also facilitated by Iannone's fall with eight laps to go, with the Ducatista who, in reality, had already accumulated a small distance from the three pacesetters.

Also taking advantage of this were a good Michael van der Mark, fourth under the checkered flag, and Danilo Petrucci, who began his small comeback in the final laps by overtaking several riders in sequence until he achieved a good fifth place. Alex Lowes then finished in sequence with the first Kawasaki, Remy Gardner and Jonathan Rea. Lowes was among the protagonists of the first part of the race and, in reality, would have finished in seventh position if it hadn't been for a penalty given to Gardner for exceeding track limits during the last lap. Rea is eighth with Yamaha, preceding Dominique Aegerter and Garrett Gerloff.

In addition to Iannone, Lecuona and Ray also retired due to a contact in turn one, fortunately without serious physical consequences, as did Axel Bassani and Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who unfortunately fell to the ground in turn four during the first lap.