Catalunya WorldSBK, Superpole Race | Razgatlioglu sweeps Bautista aside to double up

24/03/2024 13:01

Toprak Razgatlioglu doubled up at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after muscling his way through on Alvaro Bautista at the final corner to prevail in a keenly-contested Superpole Race.

The Turkish rider kept his cool after being passed for the lead at the start of the final revolution by the defending champion, sticking onto the Ducati's tail into the final corners before launching his ROKiT BMW M 1000 RR up the inside around the fast final right-hander.

A satisfying last gasp triumph for Razgatlioglu against a rival who would regularly get the better of him in fights to the wire last season, it represents his second win of the Catalunya weekend in a race that would see just +0.4s cover the top four riders.

Indeed, several riders would enjoy stints in the lead at various stages over the ten lap sprint, the first of whom was Andrea Iannone after getting the hole-shot into Turn 1 before being overhauled by the fast-starting Sam Lowes on the dip into Turn 9.

After eliminating himself from the lead in Race 1 with a crash, the Marc VDS Ducati man remained steadfast out front during the early stages and even found himself at the head of a Lowes 1-2 after Alex briefly nosed into second place.

However, each brother would be picked off by an advancing Iannone on laps three and four, Sam being bumped down the order by Alex, Nicolo Bulega and Razgatlioglu by the time he'd come back round to the home straight.

With the lead pack circulating closely, the top five order remained fluid at the mid-way point with various jostles, lunges and sit-ups seeing Bulega, then Alex Lowes and finally Razgatlioglu hold the lead between Turns 4 and 7.

Iannone made it five different race leaders within a lap when he slipped through on Razgatlioglu into Turn 1 at the start of lap six, only for the Turk to return the favour the next time around with four to go.

With a top four of Razgatliogu, Iannone, Bulega and Bautista - up from 11th on the grid - moving clear as the race entered its final stages, it was the latter who'd find himself on the tail of the BMW coming into the final lap, the Spaniard wasting no time to pounce by slipstreaming through into Turn 1.

Nevertheless, Razgatlioglu continued to track Bautista across the remainder of the lap, building up his momentum before forcing the door open coming around the final corner. Levering Bautista aside, Razgatlioglu completed the pass to complete the short dash to the line for victory as Iannone inflicted more punishment on his stablemate  by coming through to second.

Bautista held on for third to complete the podium, holding off team-mate Bulega in fourth, just over a second clear of Alex Lowes, who completed the top five.

Michael van der Mark brought his BMW home for sixth, the Dutchman winning out in a tussle with Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli and Remy Gardner for the remaining points' paying positions.

🇪🇸🏁 2024 Catalunya WorldSBK | Superpole Race Results

Sunday | Conditions - Dry, Sunny

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