Race 1 WSBK Emilia-Romagna: Razgatlioglu Takes Victory, Bulega Finishes Second
Toprak Razgatlioglu’s victory in Race 1 WSBK Emilia-Romagna narrowed the gap in the standings between him and the #11 rider to just 26 points. Bulega still leads with 272 points, while his rival has 246 points. Razgatlioglu, who now has 64 wins to his name, surpassing Alvaro Bautista’s record, pushed hard, especially on the final lap, despite feeling chattering. He expressed his hope for more wins in the future.
Things didn’t seem very friendly for Bulega as he missed out on the pole position and was penalized three grid spots for slowing down during Superpole. As a result, Razgatlioglu moved up to first place and took the lead when the lights went out. Axel Bassani and Bulega quickly caught up to Razgatlioglu. Under pressure, the BMW rider went wide, while Dominique Aegerter and Bahattin Sofuoglu crashed at Turn 8.
When Razgatlioglu made a mistake, Bassani took over the lead with Bulega trailing behind. However, on Lap 2, the Aruba.it Ducati representative managed to reclaim the lead. The race took a turn for the worse for Bassani as he crashed, and Andrea Iannone also bid goodbye after an accident at Turn 13.
The absence of the Italian Bimota Kawasaki rider allowed Razgatlioglu to move into second place, with Alex Lowes in third. After six laps of relentless racing, Razgatlioglu finally took the lead from Bulega, who was using a hard front tire. He accelerated, distancing himself from the two Panigale V4R riders, Bulega and Danilo Petrucci.
Remy Gardner retired from the race after 11 laps, concluding a disappointing weekend for the Australian GYTR GRT Yamaha rider. Razgatlioglu continued to widen the gap from Bulega and managed to maintain it until the last lap. Despite Bulega’s struggle with the high track temperature, he reduced the gap to just 0.476 seconds on Lap 14. Alex Lowes wasted no time and made a move on Petrucci to secure third place. The two exchanged positions on the following lap.
The competition persisted until the last lap, with Razgatlioglu speeding up in the final sector to extend his lead to 0.9 seconds over Bulega, who struggled with the high track temperature. Petrucci completed the podium after starting from eighth on the grid. Alex Lowes, Andrea Locatelli, Sam Lowes, Alvaro Bautista, Yari Montella, and Iker Lecuona finished in the top nine positions.
