Razgatlioglu Makes BMW
History in Catalunya
T
hree races in Catalunya un-
derlined how close WorldSBK
is in 2024 and how exciting it can
be when things fall into place.
There were several major talk-
ing points and notable firsts at the
Catalunya WorldSBK round, March
22-24, and they started early.
Toprak Razgatlioglu rode his
heavily winged BMW chariot to
a new track best and, therefore,
his first-ever BMW Superpole win.
A lap time of 1:39.489 saw him
finish one place ahead of Nicolo
Bulega (Aruba.It Ducati) and two
places up on another remarkably
quick rookie, Andrea Iannone
(Go Eleven Ducati). All five riders
dipped under the magic 1:40 mark.
The pre-race-one predictions
were seemingly obvious, how-
ever. The BMWs may be strong
to start, but the Ducatis would be
better over 20 laps.
It proved, at the very front of
this race, to be untrue.
First, Toprak broke into the lead,
but soon, Sam Lowes (Elf Marc
VDS Ducati) was harrying and
trying to pass, failing a few times.
The BMW is almost as powerful as
the Ducati, and Toprak is the last
of the monster late-brakers.
Lowes finally managed it and
set about running clear, doing a
great job until he fell. He lifted
the front a bit while leaning over
and had a rear end let go in a
non-violent low sider.
With Lowes gone, Bulega
came through, with Toprak and
Andrea Iannone (Go Eleven Duca-
ti) just behind.
Iannone felt weird on his rear
tire from the start, even though
he was trying to preserve it, but
he still passed Razgatlioglu
before he dropped back again at
half-race distance.
Bulega was over four seconds
ahead for much of the race, but
then he started to slow, and the
expected tire drop never happened
in the same way for Razgatlioglu.
WIND
IN THE
P48
Toprak Razgatlioglu
begins to streak clear
in race one for his
first BMW win.
