MIXED CONDITIONS THRILLER: Razgatlioglu takes victory in WorldSBK's 1000th race as Bulega's tyre gamble fails

Razgatlioglu makes it eight straight race wins as his title rival misses the points for the first time in his two-year WorldSBK career

The 1000^th MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race is in the books, closing out the first millennium of WorldSBK racing action. The weather threw a spanner in the works at Balaton Park Circuit, as morning rain left damp patches on the track. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rode undeterred, winning his 14^th race this season, leading Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) onto the podium. Bautista and Razgatlioglu have now shared the podium 83 times, just two rostrum finishes shy of Rea and Razgatlioglu, who hold the record. Sam Lowes' P3 finish earned him his third podium for his second in two rounds, all three podiums earned in Tissot Superpole Races.

ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR RAZGATLIOGLU: With his 60^th fastest race lap, he passes Noriyuki Haga, now second all time behind Rea with 104

Toprak landed the holeshot from pole position, looking poised to sail away from the rest of the grid, until Sam Lowes and Danilo Petrucci overtook him on Lap 3. As the race dragged into the latter laps, Petrucci sank the order, falling out of the podium places to P7 with three laps to go. Razgatlioglu laid down two 1’40s laps late in the contest to seal his second race win of the weekend, the defending Champion claiming the glory of having won Race 800, Race 900, and now Race 1000. Each milestone with a different manufacturer: first Kawasaki, then Yamaha and now BMW for Race 1000. Sam Lowes' (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) thunderous pace to start the race held on long enough to land him P2, but his first WorldSBK win continues to elude him. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) found a way through to P3 early in the running, earning him a solitary third place rostrum finish as he was five seconds behind Lowes, and three seconds ahead of Locatelli, who placed P4. Notably, tyre strategy seemed to play an important role in the mixed conditions, with the podium finishers all opting for slick tyres.

VIERGE MATCHES SEASON HIGH: The #97 lands P5 in a wet ride at Balaton

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) followed ‘El Turco’ into the first corner in P2, but strong rides from Sam Lowes and Alvaro Bautista pushed him down to fourth for the 38^th time in his career. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) took home P5, tying his best result of the season. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) led the Bimota tandem with his P6 finish.

BRITISH TRIO CLOSE OUT POINT-SCORING POSITIONS: Rookie Ryan Vickers leads from P7

Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) shone in the morning’s Warm Up session, finishing in P3. In the Superpole Race, while he wasn’t quite as fast, he wasn’t far behind, finishing P7 for his career-best WorldSBK result. Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) in P8 improved on his career-best finish, a P9 set at Assen in a rainy Superpole Race earlier this season. Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) snagged the last point-scoring spot in P9, finishing just over a second behind the Scotsman in front of him. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) closed out the top 10, slipping down the order to tenth after a robust start to the race. Petrucci was the fastest rider to race with a pair of intermediate tyres, riding well to place within the top 10 in the difficult conditions.

BULEGA SLIDES DOWN THE ORDER TO P13: Tough break in the rain as the result comes as #11’s worst WorldSBK result

Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fought with Rea in the last laps to try to land in the points, but the Swiss rider lost out and was shuffled to P11. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) struggled to keep to his regular pace, finishing 0.880s behind the #77. Just before the start of the race, Bulega and his team swapped to intermediate tyres on both wheels, a move that appears to have backfired, as he finished in P13, outside the points for the first time in his WorldSBK career, in a race that he completed. In P14, Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) led Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Michael Rinaldi (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team), and Zaqhwan Zaidi (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team on the timesheet. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) crashed in Lap 3 from running in the top 10 positions on Turn 14, ending his race before Tito Rabat (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) was forced to retire later in the contest before he saw the chequered flag.

The top nine from the WorldSBK Superpole Race full results here!

1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’40.649s

2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +2.810s

3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +7.251s

4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +10.216s

5. Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) +10.509s

6. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +12.295s

7. Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) +17.005s

8. Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) +17.065s

9. Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +18.241s

Fastest Lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu 1’40.649s

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