Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) dominated Race 1 at the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as he claimed his tenth win at Donington Park to surpass Tom Sykes’ record at the British venue. Starting from pole position, ‘El Turco’ led almost every lap on his way to victory as he became only the second rider to record at least 10 wins at two different circuits following his success at the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

‘El Turco’ stormed to pole position in the Saturday morning Tissot Superpole session under the scorching sun in the UK, fending off title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) after the Italian rider put in a late challenge – with just a tenth separating the two title contenders at the end of the 15-minute session.

When lights went out in Race 1, the #1 was able to hold position as chaos ensued around him, but he was soon demoted to second when Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) came flying past at the Turn 4 Old Hairpin for the lead. The British rider held P1 for the next couple of laps before crashing at the Craner Curves and retiring from the race, promoting Razgatlioglu back into the lead and, from there, the reigning Champion was left unchallenged as he stormed to his 10^th win at the British venue.

ONWARD AND UPWARD: “It was a good race, but the focus is now on tomorrow”

Discussing his victory, Razgatlioglu said: “It was a really good start to this weekend, we are improving the bike with every session. The bike still doesn’t feel like last year, but we are still trying our best, always. In the Race, I’m not sure which tyre is better. I used the X tyre, but at the end of the race, it was not easy to manage. At the beginning of the race, I wasn’t pushing, in the middle I was pushing a little until I saw the gap and decided to maintain the tyre. It was a good race, but the focus is now on tomorrow.”

TACTICAL DECISIONS: “I think it will be a little cooler tomorrow morning, so we need to choose our tires well”

Razgatlioglu’s win created a bit more history for the Turkish superstar. It was his tenth win at Donington, the first rider to record double-digit wins at the circuit as he passed Tom Sykes’ tally of nine, while he also became the second rider to record at least 10 wins at two different venues. Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) has won 17 times at Assen and 13 times at Portimao, while Razgatlioglu has 10 wins at Most and Donington.

On the new record he has set, Razgatlioglu stated: “I expect to win the race again tomorrow. I think it will be a little cooler tomorrow morning, so we need to choose our tires well. We will decide tomorrow once we see the weather. We just need to see the temperature tomorrow, but my target is the same: win the race. We just need a good package to be able to win.”

Catch Toprak in Sunday’s opening Tissot Superpole Race at 11:00 local time (UTC +1) Watch with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!