Toprak Razgatlioglu dominates WorldSBK Misano Race 1 taking title lead

BMW rider Toprak Razgatlioglu dominated WorldSBK Misano race 1 to take the lead in the championship from Alvaro Bautista.

Saturday was a landmark day for Toprak Razgatlioglu in the opening WorldSBK race 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.

Razgatlioglu didn’t maintain the lead initially despite making a strong start. Even stronger was Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha), who climbed from third to first as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) moved into third place.

Jonathan Rea suffered a dramatic crash on the first lap. The Yamaha rider was able to get to his feet unaided but was taken to the medical centre for a check-up. It has been a disappointing start with the team for Rea, 37, who has a best race finish of fifth in the opening 10 races of the season.

With 18 laps to go, Razgatlioglu overtook Gardner, reclaiming the lead as the Australian was also overtaken by Bautista two laps later, but the second runner was more than a second behind the race leader at that point.

Bautista’s Aruba.it Ducati teammate Nicolo Bulega made his way past Gardner. On the seventh lap, Bulega capitalized on a small mistake by Bautista to move into second place.

Razgatlioglu controlled the race from the moment he took the lead with a strong and consistent pace between high 1m33s and low 1m34s. The factory Ducati duo 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 rounding out the podium. With this victory, Razgatlioglu takes the provisional lead in the world championship with 142 points, ahead of Batista (139 points) and Bulega (129 points).

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) rounded out the top five as Gardner finished sixth.

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven Ducati) was seventh, some 16 and more seconds down on the leader. Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was eighth, the still-pained but recovering Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) ninth and the top Honda rider Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) in tenth place.

2024 WorldSBK Misano Race 1 Results