Dosoli: "One of the best races in modern motorsport history… the best I’ve seen in my life"
Even four days after the chequered flag came out, the motorsport world continues to reverberate to the sound of praise following the epic Race 2 battle at Portimao in WorldSBK
It was one of the greatest MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship races in the 35-year history of the category and it was one of those special races which reminds everyone of why we all love motorcycle racing in the first place. Yamaha Motor Europe’s Road Racing Manager Andrea Dosoli couldn’t hide his emotions and he spoke of them after his latest round-up of the Pirelli Portuguese Round. Don’t forget, check out the reaction from the riders from their media debriefs here as well as watching the battle in full here.
Team bosses Paul Denning and Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Serafino Foti had already shared their thoughts on the titanic fight, which saw the two title contenders go head-to-head with an extraordinary display of determination. 35 passes, resistance and elbows-out action all came down to the final run to the line, when Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) beat Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK).
Speaking of the battle, Dosoli was in awe of the racing: “It has been a great weekend for Yamaha with three victories and several podiums spread between the three classes. The late September sunshine brought a bumper crowd to Portimao and they witnessed one of the best races in modern motorsport history. It has been impressive to see over 50,000 spectators really involved in the fight between Alvaro and Toprak. In general, the R1 worked well in Portimao, with a very good performance on ‘flying laps’ and over the long races. It was a fantastic result in the Superpole Race with three R1s in the top four positions. This was thanks to the bike’s characteristics, as well as the hard work done by the crews and especially by our riders.”
Talking directly about Razgatlioglu and Race 2, Dosoli wasn’t short of superlatives: “Toprak gave it all for the whole weekend, especially on Sunday and he should have no regrets. I feel that was the best riding we’ve ever seen from Toprak. He didn’t make any mistakes in any of the three races, he used the full potential of his R1 on every single lap, and he was clearly the best rider on the track. He missed out on the victory only due to the difficulties in sector four, mainly the corner speed and the acceleration out of it. Every single lap he succeeded in recovering the time lost in the last sector with an amazing performance in the other three sectors, every overtake was a masterclass! Race 2 was so intense for everybody and in parc ferme nobody could mask their emotions. Tears were seen on the faces of almost all the people in blue, rider included. We’ll never forget this race, for sure it was the best I’ve ever seen in my life.”
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