Five in a row for Razgatlioglu
Tissot Superpole Highlights
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) shattered the lap record at Donington Park to secure the 15th pole position of his career. The Turkish star finished the session over half a second ahead of Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Bulega extended his streak to five consecutive front row starts, while his teammate, Alvaro Bautista, faced a setback due to a track limit infringement. Bautista, the reigning World Champion, had his time deleted, dropping him from a potential second row start to 11th on the grid.
Track limit and yellow flag infringements also affected Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), costing them leading grid positions. Meanwhile, Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) posted the third fastest time, earning his first front row start since Magny Cours in 2022.
Race 1 Highlights
Starting from pole, Razgatlioglu led from the start to claim his fifth consecutive WorldSBK victory, winning by a career-best margin of 11.384 seconds.
From the third row, Alex Lowes finished second after a combative ride. The Kawasaki rider passed Bulega at two-thirds race distance and built a comfortable margin in the closing laps, marking his fifth podium of the season.
Scott Redding, starting from the front row, remained in podium contention for the first half of the race. However, a technical problem in the closing stages hindered his progress. He will still benefit from his leading grid position in tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole Race.
Bautista’s third-place finish ties him with his teammate Bulega in the championship standings. The Spaniard, the only leading rider using the softer SCX tyre, impressively moved from 11th on the grid to finish third, overtaking Bulega for the final podium spot with four laps remaining.
Danilo Petrucci ended the race as the leading Independent rider in seventh position after battling with Pata Prometeon Yamaha teammates Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli throughout the 23-lap race.
Championship Standings
Razgatlioglu now holds a 33-point lead over Bulega and Bautista, who are tied on 171 points.
Key Points
- Pole position: Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’24.629s
- Race 1 winner: Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
- Race fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 1’25.786s
P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
“This is an amazing feeling because Donington is my favorite track. This was a strong win with a big gap to the other riders. I’m fast this weekend and I’m taking advantage of it because the Championship is important to me. We started the weekend very strong, and when I did a race simulation yesterday, my pace was amazing. It gave me confidence to know we are strong. I wasn’t pushing in the corners, I was just riding, focused, and patient, and I finished the race. It was a really good job by my team because we improved the bike in every session, and now the feeling with the bike is perfect. We have two more races tomorrow, and I’ll try my best again.”
P2 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
“I’m really happy. After losing my lap in the Superpole, I thought I might have made it a little bit more difficult for myself. It’s so competitive in World Superbike now, and if you give the other guys a little bit, it can be really hard to come back. There are 15 guys who can be on the podium now, but I really enjoyed this race. I felt my pace was strong, and at the end of the race, I was struggling a little bit with the front, but I’m not going to complain about second place. Toprak was in his own race. It’s fantastic to be back on the podium. We’ve got two more chances tomorrow, but it’s a shame to be starting from 9th in the Superpole Race.”
P3 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“It wasn’t easy because it’s always difficult to start from the back. There aren’t many places to overtake at Donington, so I gambled and used the soft tyre on the rear. The track temperature was higher than it had been all weekend, so I tried the SCX. During practice, I did 10 laps with that tyre, and I didn’t know what would happen using it. I’m happy because this was the maximum we could do in this race. The feeling with the bike isn’t the best right now, but we have to improve because I can’t ride the bike as I want. I can’t push, but we’ll try to do better tomorrow.”
WorldSBK Race 1 Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +11.384s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +13.167s
4. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +14.913s
5. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +16.349s
6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +16.611s
Fastest Lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW)– 1’25.786s (new race lap record)
WSSP Race 1
Huertas wins again and extends his championship lead to 20 points
Key Points:
Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) converted his pole position into a commanding lights-to-flag victory. The Ducati rider secured his third consecutive win with a margin of almost five seconds. Setting the fastest lap of the race, he will start from pole position for Race 2 tomorrow.
In the closing stages of the race, Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) was overtaken by Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) for second place. Manzi delivered an impressive performance, stalking Montella throughout the 19-lap race and making his move with two laps remaining to secure second place and 20 championship points.
Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura), having switched from Triumph to Ducati machinery at the previous round in Misano, claimed fourth position and continued to impress on the Ducati Panigale V2. His fourth-place finish marks his third consecutive top-five result on the Italian machine. Navarro’s fastest lap will see him start on the front row for Race 2.
Despite serving a long lap penalty, Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) achieved his best finish of the season in seventh position. The British rider is in good form this weekend and will start tomorrow’s race from fourth position.
- Pole position: Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 1’28.322s
- Race 1 winner: Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
- Race fastest lap: Adrian Huertas (Ducati) – 1’28.861s – new race lap record
P1 | Adrian Huertas | Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team
“It was a really good race. I enjoyed it a lot. We did an incredible job as a team. We made a good tyre choice, and I think it was an incredible race. I’m happy. The SCX rear tyre was the right choice. I saw Yari struggling a bit at the end, but for us, it was perfect. The team did an excellent job as always. Today was great, but we need to repeat this performance tomorrow. This is the key to the championship, so let’s focus on tomorrow and aim to do the same or even better.”
WorldSSP Race 1 Results
1. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
2. Stefano Manzi (Pata Prometeon Ten Kate Racing) +4.679s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +4.867s
4. Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +6.392s
5. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +6.630s
6. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +12.120s
Fastest lap: Adrian Huertas (Ducati) – 1’28.861s – new race lap record
WorldSBK action resumes on Sunday with Warm Up from 9:00 (Local Time), followed by Tissot Superpole Race at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00, while WorldSSP action continues on Sunday with Warm Up from 9:40, and Race 2 at 15:15.
Official WorldSBK Press Release
