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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1522712
then ease away from Bulega for another career weekend triple. You cannot say that Razgatlio- glu rides smoothly, but in this form, it looks like he is the mas- ter of his own destiny and makes the bike do his bidding. No other of the three factory- equipped BMW riders can get the M1000RR to do what they want it to do, and two of them have recently been serial WorldSBK race winners. Ominously for his rivals, World- SBK's next stop is at Razgatlioglu's favorite track, Donington Park. Bulega was a good second, well ahead of the eventually pacey Bautista, who was start - ing from 11th on the grid. Lowes took his Ninja to a strong fourth place, just less than 10 seconds from Razgatlioglu out front. Locatelli, Petrucci and Bassani formed a perfect Italian triple of riders from fifth to seventh, with Bassani once again finding prog - ress in his first factory season with any team. It was a difficult weekend for Iannone, who went a different way than some with his super-soft tire choices to try to find an edge. Seventh, fifth and 11th were poor rewards for a rider who was on a podium at rounds one and two. In the championship points, Razgatlioglu has 179, Bulega 158, Bautista 155, and Lowes 124. There is another gap to Locatelli on 94 and then Iannone on 83. WorldSSP The hot weather played a part for all at Misano, with Super - pole winner Yari Montella (Barni Spark Ducati) not quite beating the previous best. He did all that on Friday, as Superpole for all classes except WorldSBK takes place one day early in 2024. Montella's pole position helped him be up front in the opening race, as he and eventual winner Adrian Huertas (Aruba. It Ducati) fought it out all the way. The Spaniard's margin of vic- tory would be 0.021 of a second as he pounced on his Italian rival late in the 18-lap race. It had been "their" race on evenly matched machinery in a year when Ducati has possibly just a bit too much of an advan- tage again, when back in 2022 they had probably too little. In a three-rider race-one breakaway, Stefano Manzi tailed the top two but did not get quite close enough at any stage. He was third, with Valentin Debise (Evan Bros Yamaha) fourth. The top five was completed by recent bike-swapper Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNa - tura Ducati). In the second race, a red flag stopped the contest after 16 laps, with Huertas declared the winner and Montella second. This time around, Debise was the top Yamaha runner, in third place, with Manzi fourth in the finale. Navarro repeated his fifth place from race one in the Sunday race. In the championship points, Huertas has 136, Montella 125 and Manzi 114. Gordon Ritchie SUPERBIKE Race 1 (Top 5) 1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) 2. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) 3. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 4. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) 5. Alex Lowes (Kaw) Superpole (Top 5) 1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) 2. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) 3. Alex Lowes (Kaw) 4. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) 5. Andrea Iannone (Duc) Race 2 (Top 5) 1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) 2. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) 3. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 4. Alex Lowes (Kaw) 5. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) WIND IN THE P46 Adrian Huertas doubled up in WorldSSP.