Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) held off home hero Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in a dramatic fight at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. ‘El Turco’ benefitted from a penalty to Bulega after this morning’s Tissot Superpole to give him P1 on the grid, but it didn’t take long for the top two in the Championship to be fighting it out on track at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round.

Bulega was penalised with a three-place grid penalty after Superpole for slow riding in the 15-minute session, which demoted him from first on the grid to fourth and promoted Razgatlioglu to P1. The Turkish superstar was able to hold that position on the first lap while Bulega was quick to move into second place, and led on the first lap when Razgatlioglu ran wide at Turn 8 which allowed Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) to take the lead with Bulega in second, although the #11 was soon ahead of his compatriot on the same lap. However, Razgatlioglu moved into second when Bassani crashed at Turn 6 on Lap 2.

The #1 didn’t let Bulega pull away from him though, staying within a second of the Championship leader as he kept the pressure on. On Lap 5, Bulega had a big headshake on his Panigale V4R machine heading into Turn 9 which forced him to take a very wide line through Turn 10, allowing Razgatlioglu to take a tighter line and re-claim P1. Although Bulega didn’t let Razgatlioglu out of his sights, the reigning Champion was able to manage the gap to claim a 64^th victory in WorldSBK – moving ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) after the pair were tied on 63 ahead of Misano.

Discussing the race win, Razgatlioglu stated: “It wasn’t an easy race, every lap I was pushing so hard. I knew Bulega and the Ducatis would be very strong at this track. In hot conditions, it wasn’t easy to ride the bike for anyone. I just managed it. In the last laps, I felt chatter and vibrations a lot. I was just focused on winning the race, it was very important for me. The race is many laps. On the first lap, I made a mistake because we still had an engine brake problem. I came back quickly. I just followed Bulega because he was pushing so hard in the first laps. When I passed him, I was riding easier because I was alone. He was pushing hard, and the gap was very small. Every lap, I was pushing and he's also trying to follow me.”

With the victory, Razgatlioglu took his 64^th WorldSBK win, moving him into second place in the all-time list. After his two wins at Most, ‘El Turco’ was on 63, level with Bautista, and he didn’t take long to move into second on his own. In a bit of symmetry, it was also his 154^th rostrum and his 54^th fastest lap for the rider who usually uses #54.

When asked about his 64^th WorldSBK win and moving into second place in the all-time list, Razgatlioglu said: “This is very good for me. After signing for next year in MotoGP, I’m really happy, but I’m just focused on my job. This weekend is very important for me because we’re still fighting for the title in WorldSBK. This round is very important for me; we won the first race, but we have two more races. These are also very important.”

Can Razgatlioglu back up his Race 1 victory with more on Sunday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 30% off!