There was a surprise in store
at the end and one early on for
Locatelli, as he was riding visibly
hard to stay in the podium-con-
tender places. He would lose
out on
that finally, as Bautista
passed him down the straight
with a considerable speed ad-
vantage and moved clear to take
third
place.
At the end, however, we were
finally treated to the closest-ever
finish in a WorldSBK race.
Bulega's grit and determina-
tion, married to a new lap record
of
1'36.178 on the eighth lap
of 10, took him almost into
Razgatlioglu's slipstream just in
time for his final assault.
He first drafted, then cut in-
side long-time leader Razgatlio-
Some other top runners may
have
fallen, including Locatelli
on lap 15, but it was still a
strong result for all in the Japa-
nese version of red uniforms.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki
Rac-
ing Team) was fourth, without
enough front
tire left to really
try and pressurize the cool and
rapid Lecuona.
Rea in fifth place saw all five
manufacturers inside the top
five places for the first time
since Most in 2023.
In Sunday's 10-lap Superpole
race, after Razgatlioglu took an
early lead, it looked like it was all
over, bar the mid-braking stop
-
pies and big slides for Toprak,
as
all the riders' tires dropped
off.
some big-hitting riders to get to
second place. He lost another
five points to Razgatlioglu, but
significantly, he was the only
rider who could beat the rest in
race one.
Bautista fell on lap 10, just
as Bulega had slotted in behind
him. Third place delivered an
amazing result for HRC Honda
and their de facto lead rider Iker
Lecuona.
He came through from 14th
place on the grid (and 17th on
track shortly after the start) to
take third.
It was his first podium since
Assen in 2022 and proof that
the Honda was improving
enough to make some real im
-
pact in the results.
ROUND 11 / OCTOBER 11-13, 2024
CIRCUIT ESTORIL / ESTORIL, PORTUGAL
ROAD RACE I FIM WORLDSBK CHAMPIONSHIP
P74
Toprak Razgatlioglu
leads Alvaro Bautista and
Nicolo Bulega en route to
double-race victories.
