Saturday was a landmark day for Toprak Razgatlioglu in the World Superbike Championship at Misano. Following a pole position with a record lap, the rider dominated and won the first race, becoming the first BMW rider to lead the championship since 2012.
Despite making a strong start, Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW) didn’t maintain the lead initially. Even stronger was Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha), who climbed from third to first. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) moved into third place. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) suffered a dramatic crash on the first lap. With 18 laps to go, Razgatlioglu overtook Gardner, reclaiming the lead.
CHANGE IN THE LEAD!🔥@toprak_tr54 overtakes @GardnerRemy and he is in P1!#EmiliaRomagnaWorldSBK 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/EXv4Sh4rlf
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) June 15, 2024
Two laps later, the Australian was overtaken by Bautista, who was more than a second behind Razgatlioglu at that point. Around the same time, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) overtook Gardner. On the seventh lap, Bulega capitalized on a small mistake by Bautista to move into second place.
With a strong and consistent pace between high 1m33s and low 1m34s, Razgatlioglu controlled the race from the moment he took the lead. Bulega and Bautista were his closest competitors, but there was no real challenge for the top positions.
Without any serious opposition, the Turkish rider confirmed a dominant victory in Misano, with Bulega finishing second and Bautista completing the podium. These results mean that Razgatlioglu is the new championship leader. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) rounded out the top five.
