DEFINING MOMENTS, ROUND 7 – Razgatlioglu wrestles title lead from Bulega with emphatic Donington hat trick ‘
El Turco’ confirmed to the grid that he is back as the rider to beat as he took home a triple at his favourite track
The Prosecco DOC UK Round saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) complete his comeback and take the reins of the Championship with his second-consecutive hat trick from his title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati). Bulega had seized the title lead right out of the gate at Phillip Island with his hat trick, while ‘El Turco’ fell to eighth place in the standings. By the grid’s arrival in the UK, however, the Italian Riders’ Championship lead had fallen to just nine points after a double at Most and his second hat-trick at Misano in two seasons.
RAZGATLIOGLU CONTINUES HOT DONINGTON STREAK: Race 1 victory for ‘El Turco’
Saturday brought with it the start of the weekend’s race events. While Friday’s results insinuated that Toprak may struggle more than he had in years past, Toprak only shone more and more as the weekend continued. ‘El Turco’ has only missed the podium at Donington three times in his WorldSBK career, and in 2025, he landed not only his second hat trick in two rounds, but he followed up on his 2024 Donington hat trick with another triple in 2025 to match.
BULEGA DOES WHAT HE NEEDS TO DO: if you can’t win, take the best possible result…
Razgatlioglu’s stellar weekend began with pipping Bulega by just 0.119s in the Tissot Superpole to snag his third pole of the season, keeping the ball rolling that afternoon by topping the podium in Race 1 by a substantial margin of 6.5s. Sunday saw the rest of the grid improve their times; however, no one could lay a finger on the #1 as he finished Sunday’s Superpole Race and Race 2 both in first place by a combined margin of 5.75s over his rival #11. Razgatlioglu's Superpole Race win trimmed Bulega’s points lead down to a single point. After leading the way onto the rostrum in Race 2, the five points he gained on the #11, who finished in P2, saw him take the lead by a tenuous four-point margin: 345-341 after all was said and done at Donington. However, Bulega followed the old adage: if you can’t win, secure the maximum. Three P2s limited the damage, even if Razgatlioglu took the Championship lead.
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