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Czech WorldSBK, Race 1: Razgatlioglu Checks Out

Czech WorldSBK, Race 1: Razgatlioglu Checks Out

Autodrom Most hosts round six of the 2024 Superbike World Championship, the Czech WorldSBK. Toprak Razgatlioglu arrives to the Czech Round with the championship lead, and off the back of two consecutive trebles, and the Turkish rider was fastest in Superpole to take his third straight pole position.

Race 1

Toprak Razgatlioglu stormed to his eighth successive WorldSBK victory in Race 1 at Most, winning by over five seconds.

Razgatlioglu, who started from pole position, made the holeshot and immediately began to pull away. By lap two he had one second, a few laps later that was doubled, and with a few laps to go it was over seven seconds. A wheelie from the exit of the final corner until the finish line meant his margin was reduced to 5.7 seconds at the flag, but there was never any doubt about the result from the first lap.

Behind, the battle for second was initially between three Ducatis, but as the race went on that number reduced to two. The pattern of Nicolo Bulega’s season, with the exception of is WorldSBK debut in Australia, has been that his first race has been blighted by late race pace struggles, and in the Sunday races he has improved. So far in Most, that pattern is continuing, as it was the #11 that dropped out of the battle for second from mid-race onwards and began slipping back to sixth place.

Bulega’s departure from the podium fight left Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Iannone to decide second and third place between them. The two were quite even on pace, but Iannone seemed to have a little bit more at the end. However, a mistake at turn one on the penultimate lap gave Petrucci a big enough gap to manage until the end.

Petrucci took second for his first podium of the season, while Iannone secured his first top three finish since the Catalan Round back in March.

Alvaro Bautista had better pace than both of them at the end, but he lost too much time in the beginning of the race. He started 10th, having picked up a three-place grid penalty, but was fifth after the first few corners. From there, though, he slipped backwards, and battled with Alex Lowes and Remy Gardner as the three aforementioned Ducati riders pulled away. By the time Bautista’s pace recovered, at around half-distance, he had time to get to fourth place – passing Gardner, seeing Lowes fall off behind him, and taking advantage of the fading Bulega, too – but no further.

Gardner took fifth place, comfortably finishing as the best Yamaha rider, ahead of Bulega, who lost nine seconds to the two riders he was fighting with for the podium by the end. Andrea Locatelli was seventh, Garrett Gerloff eighth, Michael van der Mark ninth, and Jonathan Rea completed the top 10 after a disappointing race – considering his competitive speed on Friday – which included a trip through the long-lap loop for cutting the first chicane.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Czech Round | Autodrom Most | Race 1 Result | Rd 6/13
Pos Rider Nat. WorldSBK Team Superbike Timing
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR WIN
2 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 5.740
3 Andrea Iannone ITA Team Go Eleven Ducati Panigale V4 R 5.881
4 Alvaro Bautista ESP Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 9.217
5 Remy Gardner AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 11.622
6 Nicolo Bulega ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 13.841
7 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 14.186
8 Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 14.596
9 Michael van der Mark NED ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 19.520
10 Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 23.579
11 Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 25.370
12 Sam Lowes GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4 R 25.993
13 Dominique Aegerter SUI GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 28.213
14 Xavi Vierge ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 29.628
15 Scott Redding GBR Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 32.972
16 Axel Bassani ITA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 35.666
17 Tito Rabat ESP Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR 36.979
18 Philipp Oettl GER GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha R1 39.711
19 Bradley Ray GBR Motoxracing Yamaha Yamaha R1 39.850
20 Leandro Mercado ARG Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 56.310
21 Hayden Gillim USA Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:02.692
DNF Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR DNF
DNF Iker Lecuona ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R DNF

Superpole

Toprak Razgatlioglu, 2024 Czech WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.

Toprak Razgatlioglu took a sensational pole position with a new lap record of the Autodrom Most circuit at the Czech WorldSBK.

Razgatlioglu was almost 0.7 seconds clear of the field in Superpole, beating the new lap record he set in Saturday morning’s FP3 by a similar amount. Like the WorldSBK UK Round last weekend, the Turkish rider is in formidable form in the Czech Republic.

Andrea Iannone, ambitiously using Razgatlioglu as a marker, was the #54’s closest challenger on his first visit to the Czech track. The Italian qualified second, ahead of Alex Lowes who completed the front row.

Nicolo Bulega had his worst qualifying of the season in fourth, and will be joined on row two by Remy Gardner and Danilo Petrucci, the latter feeling as though he’d been blocked by Alvaro Bautista on the final lap of his first run.

As for the reigning champion himself, he missed the front two rows yet again with his seventh-placed qualifying, ahead of Garrett Gerloff, Andrea Locatelli, and Michael Ruben Rinaldi who completed the top 10. Rinaldi will be joined on row four by Scott Redding and Sam Lowes.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Czech Round | Autodrom Most | Superpole Result | Rd 6/13
Pos Rider Nat. WorldSBK Team Superbike Timing
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 1:30.064
2 Andrea Iannone ITA Team Go Eleven Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:30.729
3 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:30.758
4 Nicolo Bulega ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:30.857
5 Remy Gardner AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:30.889
6 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:30.997
7 Alvaro Bautista ESP Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:31.017
8 Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 1:31.082
9 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:31.110
10 Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:31.170
11 Scott Redding GBR Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 1:31.229
12 Sam Lowes GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:31.345
13 Iker Lecuona ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:31.390
14 Xavi Vierge ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:31.465
15 Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:31.467
16 Michael van der Mark NED ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 1:31.493
17 Dominique Aegerter SUI GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:31.533
18 Axel Bassani ITA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:31.618
19 Tito Rabat ESP Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:32.113
20 Philipp Oettl GER GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.123
21 Bradley Ray GBR Motoxracing Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.216
22 Leandro Mercado ARG Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:32.961
23 Hayden Gillim USA Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:33.756

FP2

Toprak Razgatlioglu, 2024 Czech WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.

Toprak Razgatlioglu repeated his time-topping performance of Friday morning on Friday afternoon at Most for the Czech WorldSBK, but his advantage shrank.

Despite improving his own time by over 0.4 seconds between FP1 and FP2, Razgatlioglu’s advantage was reduced from almost 0.3 seconds in FP1 to only 0.103 seconds in FP2. The Turkish rider’s closest rival was now Alvaro Bautista, not Remy Gardner, and the reigning champion was the only rider other than Razgatlioglu to lap in the 1:31s.

Behind Bautista was Jonathan Rea, who completed a nostalgic top three although he missed a sub-1:32, while Alex Lowes and Nicolo Bulega completed the top five.

Danilo Petrucci was sixth, ahead of Remy Gardner, Michael van der Mark, Andrea Locatelli, and Andrea Iannone who rounded out the top 10.

Technical issues for Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s #21 Motocorsa Ducati meant the Italian did not set a time.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Czech Round | Autodrom Most | FP2 Result | Rd 6/13
Pos Rider Nat. WorldSBK Team Superbike Timing
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 1:31.519
2 Alvaro Bautista ESP Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:31.622
3 Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.033
4 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:32.052
5 Nicolo Bulega ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.071
6 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.110
7 Remy Gardner AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.277
8 Michael van der Mark NED ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 1:32.335
9 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.369
10 Andrea Iannone ITA Team Go Eleven Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.426
11 Sam Lowes GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.448
12 Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 1:32.461
13 Dominique Aegerter SUI GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.501
14 Axel Bassani ITA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:32.521
15 Scott Redding GBR Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 1:32.846
16 Tito Rabat ESP Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:32.962
17 Bradley Ray GBR Motoxracing Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:33.011
18 Iker Lecuona ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:33.095
19 Xavi Vierge ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:33.155
20 Philipp Oettl GER GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:33.550
21 Leandro Mercado ARG Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:33.993
22 Hayden Gillim USA Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:34.350
23 Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R No Time Set

FP1

Toprak Razgatlioglu, 2024 UK WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.

Toprak Razgatlioglu was fastest in WorldSBK FP1 at the Czech Round, finishing ahead of Remy Gardner.

The Turkish rider laid down his benchmark on just his second flying lap of the session, and was still the only rider in the 1:31s by the end of FP1.

For most of the session, Razgatlioglu was over 0.5 seconds clear of the field, but by the end Gardner had got to within 0.3 seconds of the 2021 champion. Alvaro Bautista, too, was within 0.3 seconds, while Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding in fourth and fifth were the last riders to be withing 0.5 seconds by the end.

Jonathan Rea was briefly second-fastest, but dropped to sixth at the end, ahead of Nicolo Bulega, Iker Lecuona, Alex Lowes, and Michael Ruben Rinaldi who completed the top 10.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Czech Round | Autodrom Most | FP1 Result | Rd 6/13
Pos Rider Nat. WorldSBK Team Superbike Timing
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 1:31.947
2 Remy Gardner AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.233
3 Alvaro Bautista ESP Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.240
4 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.362
5 Scott Redding GBR Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 1:32.365
6 Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:32.465
7 Nicolo Bulega ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.507
8 Iker Lecuona ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:32.538
9 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:32.595
10 Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:32.800
11 Xavi Vierge ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:33.014
12 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Prometeon Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:33.031
13 Michael van der Mark NED ROKiT BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR 1:33.197
14 Axel Bassani ITA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:33.209
15 Andrea Iannone ITA Team Go Eleven Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:33.254
16 Bradley Ray GBR Motoxracing Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:33.456
17 Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR 1:33.540
18 Tito Rabat ESP Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:33.609
19 Sam Lowes GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4 R 1:33.611
20 Dominique Aegerter SUI GYTR GRT Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:33.671
21 Philipp Oettl GER GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha R1 1:34.300
22 Leandro Mercado ARG Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:34.772
23 Hayden Gillim USA Petronas MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R 1:35.726