Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed a hard-fought victory in Race 1 at the Circuito Estoril after dropping to fifth on the opening lap, before fighting his way back into the lead. ‘El Turco’ gained five points on title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) during the opening duel for the EICMA Estoril Round after ‘Bulegas’ finished in second place in a red-flagged race.

THE ORIGINAL START: Red flag after five-rider crash at Turn 1

The race was red flagged after a Turn 1 pile-up. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) lost the front at Turn 1 and left riders behind him with nowhere to go, with Tetsuta Nagashima (Honda HRC), Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) all going down, while Tarran Mackenzie (MGM BONOVO Action) took a big hit to his right side but kept his Ducati upright. With the red flag thrown before Lap 1, it was a complete restart, with all five riders involved taking the restart, based on the original grid positions over a 20-lap distance.

RAZGATLIOGLU FIGHTS BACK AND BOLTS: From P5 on Lap 1 to the lead

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) got a stunning start when lights went out to leap from third to first, ahead of teammate Bulega, while Razgatlioglu dropped down to P5. He soon got ahead of Pata Maxus Yamaha duo Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) to move into P3, before passing the #11 at Turn 8 for P2 on Lap 2. At the start of Lap 3, ‘El Turco’ outbraked Bautista at Turn 1 move into the lead and he immediately pulled out a gap over Bautista. On the third lap, Bulega moved ahead of Bautista at Turn 6, which left the #19 vulnerable to Rea behind. However, no one was able to match Razgatlioglu’s pace, as he stormed to victory in Portugal ahead of Bulega. Over the second half of the race, Bulega started closing the gap on Razgatlioglu, who made the switch from the SC2 to the SC1 front tyre during the red flag stoppage. Heading into the final quarter, ‘El Turco’ started pulling a gap over ‘Bulegas’ once again as he managed the final few laps to claim a valuable victory. It was Razgatlioglu’s 20^th win of the season, while Bulega took the 51^st rostrum of his career.

FIGHTING FOR THIRD: Rea takes the battle to Bautista for the rostrum

Bautista and Rea continued their duel for third in the first half of the race, with Rea looking faster than the Ducati rider but unable to pass his old nemesis. A mistake from Rea on Lap 8 at Turn 1, where he ran wide, dropped him a few tenths behind the Spaniard. However, he was able to recover that gap over the course of the lap. On Lap 12, Rea took advantage of a Bautista error to be all over the Ducati rider, while Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) was now in the fight for P3. Two laps later and Bautista had built his gap over again to take his 16^th rostrum of the year. Lowes got ahead of Rea on Lap 15 at Turn 1, before teammate Locatelli followed him straight through to demote the #65 into P6. On Lap 16, ‘Loka’ moved ahead of Lowes to claim P4 at Turn 1, with the #22 finishing P5 and Rea in P6, after fending off Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) and Andrea Iannone (Team Pata GoEleven) in seventh and eighth respectively.

SCORING POINTS: Gerloff rounds out top 10, Bassani bounces back from crash for P11

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished around two seconds down on Iannone ahead to finish in P9, while Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) claimed tenth as he climbed up the order from his starting position. Bassani was 11^th, two seconds clear of Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) in 12^th as the Brit finished inside the points. Tito Rabat (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) was 13^th with Mackenzie and van der Mark rounding out the points-paying positions. Nagashima was four seconds down on van der Mark as he finished in 16^th, ahead of wildcard Bobby Fong (Attack Performance Yamaha Racing) in 17^th. Local rider Ivo Lopes (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) was the last finisher in 18^th.

TO NOTE: Three retirements, ‘Petrux’ takes Top Independent Rider in 2025

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) retired from the race after a Lap 1 crash at Turn 6 while Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) crashed out of the race on Lap 3 at Turn 3 with the Spaniard sliding out of contention as he made his comeback from injury at Estoril. Sofuoglu was ordered to leave the track with a technical problem which forced him out of the race. Michael Rinaldi (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) did not take part in Race 1 after being declared unfit for Saturday after Tissot Superpole; the #12 has been suffering from gastroenteritis.

Elsewhere, with both Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) both declared unfit ahead of Race 1, ‘Petrux’ was officially declared as the Top Independent Rider for 20205.

The top six from WorldSBK Race 1, full results here:

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +1.948s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +14.729s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +16.563s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +17.044s
6. Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +18.575s
Fastest Lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) - 1’35.632s

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