Toprak Razgatlioglu was once again in top form and this time he took another WSBK victory in the second race of the class at Estoril! Nicolò Bulega was second and so can dream of the title after “forcing” the decisions to Jerez.
The race began with Álvaro Bautista getting a strong start and leading ahead of Andrea Locatelli, Bulega, Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea, who made up the top five at the start.
A couple of laps later, Bulega was second, while Razgatlioglu was starting to make up ground, after overtaking Rea to take fourth, before Tarran MacKenzie crashed out. Another Brit went down, Sam Lowes.
With 17 laps to go, what everyone had expected was happening, with Razgatlioglu winning this take on the fight with Bulega and moving up to second place, and a few moments later another crash, this time with Garrett Gerloff going down and being forced to abandon.
With 15 laps to go, Razgatlioglu was in the lead for the first time in the race and Bulega, with not many more laps to go, beat Bautista to second place and try to chase down the #54.
⚔️ @toprak_tr54 overtakes @nbulega 🔥👀#EstorilWorldSBK 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/IaqBBJiMyq
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 13, 2024
Locatelli then became another “victim” and crashed, and it wasn’t long before Iker Lecuona saw bad luck knock on his door when he was fourth, also joining the group of riders who crashed.
With five laps to go, Razga was still strongly in the lead, with the Ducati duo, headed by Bulega, in pursuit.
Unsurprisingly, El Turco won race 2 of the WSBK in Portugal and with Bulega in second, the title decision was postponed until the final round of the World Championship in Jerez.
At the end, as is becoming customary, Razgatlioglu celebrated with originality.
Just… @toprak_tr54 being @toprak_tr54 🤣🎉
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 13, 2024
Always excited to see another celebration ideas!🔥#EstorilWorldSBK 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/AO7DpopV3P