WorldSBK: Race 2 Highlights
Starting from pole position Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) once again converted it into a Lap 1 lead.
As has been the case throughout the weekend Bulega and Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) traded blows throughout the early laps. Any time Razgatlioglu attacked and took the lead Bulega immediately answered back to lead every lap.
A mistake from Razgatlioglu at Turn 7 on Lap 12 was capitalised on by Bulega who immediately opened a margin of one second. His consistent pace ensured a healthy winning margin of 3.2s.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) dropped to sixth on the opening lap. By Lap 4 he was into third position. Once into clear air his pace was fast and consistent but the Spaniard had lost too much time to the race leaders and finished 1.7s behind Razgatlioglu.
Starting from the second row of the Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) was combative throughout the 18 lap race. The Italian rider made a great start to the race to jump into third position. When Bautista came past, Iannone spent the race scrapping with Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), that was settled on the final lap in the Italian’s favour. A penultimate lap crash dropped Lowes from sixth position.
Championship Highlights
- Razgatlioglu holds a 36 point lead over Bulega having conceded three points to his rival Bulega.
- Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) continues to sit third in the championship with a 30 point advantage from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) while Bautista’s double podium finish today leaves him one point adrift.
- Ducati’s double win today allows them to retake the lead in the Manufacturers Standings. BMW trail by six points with six races remaining.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I’m really happy because I needed these two wins today. It was very difficult as Toprak was always strong and aggressive, so I focused on staying with him and responding to his overtakes. It was a fantastic weekend with two great races and battles. Yesterday I wasn’t fully happy because the bike wasn’t perfect, but thanks to my team we improved it, and today I was faster and able to take the wins.”
P2 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“It has been a hard weekend but there is one very positive thing: I finally won in Aragon. We took some very good points this weekend and in Race 2 I was pushing hard but made a mistake at Turn 7. Anyway, finishing second still gives us strong points for the Championship. Now I am looking ahead to Estoril, where I am normally very strong but we will see there.”
P3 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“It has been a positive Sunday. After yesterday’s crash it was important to finish the races today. I felt quite good with the bike in the Superpole Race but in the afternoon I lost some positions at the start. When I was third the gap to Toprak and Nicolo wasn’t too big but it wasn’t easy to close them down. Today we could not take risks so the priority was to finish and regain confidence with the bike. I am happy to be on the podium. Of course I would prefer to fight for victories but with our current situation this is the maximum we can achieve.”
Race 2 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +3.248s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +4.973s
4. Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) +12.904s
5. Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +13.521s
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +16.102s
Championship Standings
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 523 points
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 487 points
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 284 points
Tissot Superpole Race Highlights
Having won a record equalling thirteenth race in a row Sunday at Motorland Aragon would always come down to whether Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) would win the Tissot Superpole Race or have his run of success end…
Starting from pole position Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) would convert it into the holeshot at Turn 1. The opening lap however set the tone for the remaining laps of the race. Throughout the ten lap duration Razgatlioglu pounced on any chance he had to attack the leading Ducati who would fend off the advances.
On Lap 2 Razgatlioglu come past at Turn 15 which would prove a popular overtaking move for the World Champion throughout the race. Despite his combative ride the Turkish rider would only lead over the start-finish line on two of the ten laps. Bulega hassled and harassed Razgatlioglu throughout and on the final lap he attacked at the final corner. Holding a tighter line he used the strengths of the Ducati V4R to take the lead and hold off the BMW M1000RR by just one tenth of a second at the line.
Starting from the second row of the grid Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) bounced back from the disappointment of a Race 1 crash to finish on the podium.
On the final lap Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven) overtook Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) in their battle for fourth position. The final point was scored by Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who won a four rider scrap that was separated by half a second.
Superpole Race Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.105s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.703s
For more info checkout our dedicated WorldSBK (World Superbike) News page superbike-news.co.uk/category/world-superbikes/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
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