Friday at the Circuito Estoril was a similar story to Friday at MotorLand Aragon. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) topped FP1 and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) topped FP2 as the pair demonstrated their race pace in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The EICMA Estoril Round could prove pivotal in determining the outcome of this year’s title, with ‘El Turco’ taking a big advantage heading into the penultimate round of the season.

BULEGA’S OUTRIGHT SPEED: The only rider in the 1’35s

Ducati star Bulega needs to start taking points off Razgatlioglu in the title fight, with 36 points between them heading into Estoril, and he’s started the weekend by striking first across both of Friday’s session. The #11 was second in FP1 but went quickest in FP2 with a 1’35.778s as he claimed P1 overall. However, Bulega didn’t complete a long stint in that session. He completed three stints in totalling 16 laps, with the longest being seven laps. It was this stint, his last one, where he set his best time of the day, where he had two laps in the 1’35s and the rest in the 1’36s. In his first stint, two of the six laps were in the 1’37s and the rest in the 1’36s. In FP1, Bulega did a nine-lap run where all of his times were in the 1’36s, ranging from 1:36.280s to 1:36.712s.

Discussing his Friday, Bulega said: “I think today was quite a good day. Normally, Estoril isn’t a difficult track but also not our best, so it’s important to start like this. We improved some little things in FP2 compared to FP1. I think we understand what we can improve for tomorrow. The plan in the second run in FP2 was to do a longer run than I did but I saw the chequered flag after a few laps. I came back to the pits, with van der Mark and some other guys, but the plan was to stay on track. I went back out, and I did the remaining laps and it was quite good. I think me and Toprak are a bit faster than the others, but everybody is quite close, especially me and him. It’s just Friday.”

RAZGATLIOGLU’S RACE PACE: Second overall, 0.277s between fastest and slowest times in long run

BMW star Razgatlioglu set his best time of the day in FP2 as well with a 1’36.010s, narrowly missing out on the 1’35s bracket but finishing two tenths down on his teammate. However, it was his race pace which caught the eye. A 16-lap stint in FP2 showed his consistency with 15 laps in the 1’36s bracket, and the only one that wasn’t was when he ran wide at Turn 6. His fastest time was a 1’36.010s while his slowest, ignoring the time with an error, was a 1’36.287 – just 0.277s between his fastest and slowest lap times across this run. His last three laps in that run were a 1’36.083s, 1’36.230s and 1’36.084s, while his 1’36.287s came on the seventh lap of the stint.

On his race pace, Razgatlioglu stated: “I was just focused on my race simulation. In the first run, I used an old tyre, perhaps 20 laps old. I did a 1’36.6. I changed the tyre and in the 17 laps, I just stayed between a 1’36.0 and a 1’36.2: that’s good pace. On the last laps, I was pushing for a 1’35 but I saw a 1’36.0 and came back to the box. We’re working for the race but we need to improve some corners because I’m still not happy on the engine brake side but I believe my crew will improve the bike for tomorrow. It’s been a busy day but positive.”

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