The top two in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship standings engaged in a fierce fight as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) duelled it out for victory at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola. Championship leader Bautista came out on top after the incredible scrap despite a huge moment in the early stages of the race and Razgatlioglu’s efforts to win at Imola.

Bautista started the race from fourth and was soon ahead of his rival but the 2021 Champion pulled off a sublime overtake on the Spaniard as he went around the outside on the entry to the Variante Alta for second place. Razgatlioglu then made his way into the lead when he passed teammate Andrea Locatelli, before Bautista overtook the Italian on Lap 5 at the Variante Alta. From there, it became a two-way scrap as the pair each hunted an Imola victory.

Razgatlioglu was able to keep the reigning Champion at bay for the first half of the 19-lap race, with Bautista dropping down to third on Lap 8 when he had a huge wobble on the run out of Acque Minerali and into the chicane. This allowed Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) to pass but Bautista was soon back ahead of the six-time World Champion at Rivazza 1. He once again set his target back on the Turk out in front with the crucial move coming into the same corner on Lap 11.

From that point, Bautista extended his lead to over 3.5 seconds to claim a 17^th victory of the season although Razgatlioglu didn’t make it easy for him; putting him on the verge of more history. One more win in WorldSBK will be his 50^th while it will also be his 18^th of the season, meaning he will have won more races in a single campaign than anyone else.

Discussing his win, Bautista said: “Honestly, I didn’t expect to win. It was only my second time here at Imola. Today, we made a small change to the bike, and I felt much better in the morning. It started to feel like it did at the other tracks. The race was really tough because it was hot and very slippery. In the beginning, I didn’t feel much confidence to push in the opening laps. I saw several riders with more confidence than me. I started to, step by step, push more. We were missing some grip. I thought it was maybe because I don’t have clean air and the front is struggling a bit. I had some laps with clean air. The feeling with the front was improving so I tried to stay in front and, at least, the front was better.”

Although he was unable to take victory, Razgatlioglu’s second place gave him his 100^th WorldSBK rostrum. He is only the sixth rider to hit this milestone after Rea, Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga, Tom Sykes and Carl Fogarty. The results mean Bautista’s lead in the standings is now at 98 points over his rival, while Razgatlioglu is 96 points clear of teammate Locatelli in third place.

Reacting to his milestone podium, Razgatlioglu commented: “I’m waiting for 100 wins! We have time for this. Today, wasn’t a bad race. I’m not 100% happy because I finished the race in second position. My goal is to win a race. In Race 1, I was feeling good but when the tyres started to drop, I saw the Ducati still had very good acceleration. I tried to keep fighting with him, but it wasn’t enough. It’s better than nothing.”

More racing action is to come tomorrow with the Superpole Race and Race 2: watch it all using the WorldSBK VideoPass!