An epic MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship keeps getting stronger and stronger as the Pirelli Catalunya Round comes to a close with an unbelievable weekend of racing. The Tissot Superpole Race was an absolute belter, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) snatching a win from underneath Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in a final corner showdown, one of the best races in WorldSBK. Watch the last lap here!

RAZGATLIOGLU’S VIEW: “If I didn’t try, I’d be really angry”

Having lost opportunities at Turns 4, 5 and 10, Razgatlioglu had to invent something in the final sector, similar to Valentino Rossi’s 2009 MotoGP™ race-winning pass and he replicated it phenomenally: “I am really happy; I didn’t have more chances because at Turn 10, I lost it because I wasn’t close enough to attack,” said Toprak in Parc Ferme. “I was then just thinking in the last corner and what Valentino Rossi did many years ago, so I thought ‘why not now?’ and I was close enough. I used second gear in the last corner, took the line and the plan was perfect. The acceleration wasn’t bad and I am winning again. I’m not surprised, I was just thinking in the last corner!”

Talking about it at the end of the day, he said: “If I didn’t try, I’d be really angry. I need to see if it works or not! It’s a good plan and I need to show it. I used second gear for acceleration because maybe in third gear, it doesn’t accelerate well. This Superpole Race and especially the last corner have given me good memories! Maybe it’s one of my top three race wins.”

BAUTISTA ON THE RECEIVING END: “Even if I was on the inside kerb, he’d try!”

“Starting from the back, I didn’t expect to be on the podium,” began Bautista in Parc Ferme, immediately after the heat of the battle in which he finished in P3 after Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) took advantage of the Turn 14 squabble. “I expected the overtake from Toprak, so I closed the line a little bit, more than normal. However, even if I was on the inside kerb, he’d try. More than pass me, it was going to be push me out, crash or something else! But this is racing, so in any case, I am so happy and the performance has been really good.”

Continuing after Race 2 – in which he won for the first time in 2024 – he said: “I knew that Toprak was going to try it in the last lap, he should. I tried to close a bit the line, but not too much because he was trying it either way, whatever my line was! It’s important to finish and not crash, so I just closed a little bit to not leave the door open, but I had to pick up the bike and go to the dirty area and lost the position with Iannone. It was an aggressive move, but in any case, if I tried to close more, there would have been contact.”

THE MANIAC STRIKES BACK: “Unfortunately, the race has finished!”

With a perfect view of it all, Andrea Iannone was the big winner as he picked up P2 when Bautista was wide, with him saying in Parc Ferme: “It was incredible and all the race too! We overtake in every corner with different riders! I said ‘what happened? We went into the same corner all together!’ but it was a really fun race. A great battle with everyone, the first time I have battled like this. Unfortunately, the race has finished! My feeling was good!”

EVERY SECOND LIVE: watch all the action from the Catalunya Round with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com