Tissot Superpole Highlights
Second pole position of the season for Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Yellow flags infringements saw lap times deleted in the closing moments of the session but a lap of 1’32.320 was enough for Razgatlioglu to claim the honours
Rookie Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) set the second fastest time and is yet to qualify off the front row of the grid in WorldSBK
Second front row start of Remy Gardner’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) WorldSBK career
Four manufacturers qualified inside the top four positions
Race 1 highlights:
The race was held in challenging conditions with track temperatures of over 45C
From the outside of the front row Gardner led from the start with Razgatlioglu and Bautista giving chase
Razgatlioglu led from Lap 4 until the end and controlled the race from that point onwards to win by 1.782s from Bulega
In the early laps Bulega dropped to sixth position but fought his way into second by Lap 8 but was unable to challenge Razgatlioglu
Suffering from a lack of feeling in braking Bautista was in the top three throughout and eventually finished in third position
At his home race Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) came out on top of a race long battle with Gardner and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) finished the race as the leading Independent Rider in seventh position but close to the battle in front for fourth position
Championship Standings:
Following his fourth victory of the season Razgatlioglu leads the championship for the first time this season
This is also the first time that BMW has led championship since Moscow 2012 with Marco Melandri
Bulega’s fifth podium now leaves just 13 points separating the top three in the standings after ten races. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is just three points behind Razgatlioglu after finishing third and claiming his eighth podium of the season
This is the fourth change of championship lead this season. Last year Bautista was the sole championship leader
Key Points:
Pole position: Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) – 1’32.320
Race 1 winner: Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
Race fastest lap: Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) – 1’33.920
WorldSBK Race 1 Results
1.Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.782s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.176s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +10.337s
5. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +11.671s
6. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +14.822s
Championship Standings
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 142 points
2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 139 points
3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 129 points
WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’32.320s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.236s
3. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.586s
P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
“It was a very hard race for everyone with the hot conditions. There was less grip from the track. I used the hard front tyre and for the first part of the race it was ok but then I started to lose the front tyre. I want to thank my team for their hard work but it’s not over, we have two more races tomorrow. I’ll give my best tomorrow as my target is to win all three races this weekend!”
P2 | Nicolo Bulega | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“Honestly, I lost some time at the start because I took a lot of laps to overtake other riders and have a clear track. At the end of the race I was fast but it was very late because Toprak was very fast. For my first Superbike race in Italy, second place isn’t bad!”
P3 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“It’s always a nice feeling to be on the podium when the feeling is not the best. I struggled a lot with braking and I lost a lot of time in corner entry. When I tried to push harder the front was sliding and I ran off the line many times. It was important to finish the race and get some points and build confidence for tomorrow.”
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©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
