Toprak Triples Up Again At Donington Park
I
t looked like Toprak Razgatlio-
glu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad)
was going to be the toughest
nut to crack from way before we
even got to Donington Park, and
it proved to be the case on day
one, two and three at round five
of the FIM WorldSBK Champion-
ship, July 12-14.
He was fastest in combined
practices on Friday, then set a
new Superpole pace that heavily
scarified the old track best. His
1'24.629 was the only one under
the 1'25 mark, but also 0.573 up
on the next quickest rider, Nicolo
Bulega (Aruba Ducati), as Super
-
pole supplied tricks and treats
for many.
The only relative low point for
Toprak was when Remy Gardner
(GYTR GRT Yamaha) took the
best lap in FP3 (1'25.823) just
before Superpole qualifying got
underway.
Scott Redding (Bonovo Action
BMW) was third in Superpole
and converted that into an early
podium pace in race one.
Alex Lowes (KRT) was pinged
for a track-limits infraction in Su
-
perpole and started from ninth
place, not third. Alvaro Bautista
(Aruba Ducati) got relegated to
11th (from a top-five position)
for the same reason.
These two riders were signifi-
cant shortly afterward, because
it proved they would be the final
"lucky" ones joining Toprak on
the race-one podium steps.
However, they were still miles
behind at the end of a full-
distance 23-lap race one. Lowes
was 11 seconds behind at the
flag.
Toprak had inevitably set a
new lap record of 1'25.786 on
lap three.
WIND
IN THE
P40
Toprak Razgatlioglu was
unstoppable at the Donington
Park WorldSBK round.
PHOTOS: GOLD & GOOSE
