Toprak walks and wins in Portugal, Lecuona returns to the podium and Bautista falls when he was second

ANDst in another league. Toprak Razgatlioglu passes the first race in Estoril and wins the first race of the weekendwithout breaking a sweat and taking 10 seconds off his pursuer. Nico Bulega could not cut points and the championship becomes difficult for him. Álvaro Bautista was able to fight for the podium after a great start, but he had a fall. Iker Lecuona was the protagonist of the day and returned to the podiumachieving the second of his career in the Superbike World Championship.

The race started in dry conditions, but the clouds were threatening and it seemed that at any moment it could start to rain. Toprak started well, but in the first corner three riders passed him, although he quickly passed the bike to Nico Bulega and took third place.. Danilo Petrucci was leading the race. For his part, Álvaro Bautista made an incredible start and placed sixth, just behind his teammate.

The Spaniard couldn’t risk much, because he already said that he didn’t want to bother Bulega, who is playing for the championship. Locatelli, who was second on the second lap, passed Petrucci on the straight and took firstopening a small mattress.

Toprak distances himself from Bulega

Nico Bulega saw that he was going to lose points with the Turk and wanted to try a too aggressive overtaking with Rea, to try to catch up with his greatest rival. But the movement was somewhat desperate, they touched each other a little, andThe Italian went off track and fell to eighth position, which was horrible for his title chances.

Toprak overtook Petrucci on the fourth lap and got on top of Locatelli, aware that he could make a difference in the championship and take many points from Bulega. Meanwhile, Bautistic continued his comeback and placed fourth, just behind Petrucciwho could not keep up with the pace at the head of the race.

It didn’t take long for Toprak to take first, already 17 laps from the endtook advantage of the speed of his BMW and overtook Locatelli to lead the race. There was a very comfortable Álvaro, who looked confident and able to attack, since his teammate was behind him and he quickly overtook Petrucci to take third.

lvaro Bautista intractable

The Spaniard showed that he was The only one who could keep up with the pace at the head of the race, he set some fast laps and closed in on Locatelli and Toprak.allowing himself to dream of victory. Bulega continued to come back after his mistake and was already fourth, trying to get Toprak to get as few points as possible.

Alvaro was not satisfied with the podium and on the next lap he came out very close to Locatelli on the main straight to put his bike into turn 1 and take second. Toprak was running away, but Bautista was the fastest driver on the track. The victory for the ‘1’ was complicated, because the world leader was almost a second ahead of him.

Behind the group in front, Iker Lecuona had a strong battle with Lowes and Rea and took fifth, while Bulega was on top of Locatelli. The doubt was clear: whether Bautista would let his teammate pass if he overtook the Yamaha rider.

Every Baptist

With 11 laps to go, Bulega took third, but had Bautista 1 second behind. For its part, The Turk was in another league and was more than two seconds behind the Spanish driver. Bulega was approaching the Spaniard and at the entrance to the chicane, lvaro suffered a fall and the podium options vanished. The bike was damaged, and the Spaniard entered the pit lane, ending his race.

With the abandonment and the first position of Toprak, The current world champion was left with no options to fight for the title mathematically, although it was almost impossible.

Toprak, in another league and Lecuona returns to the podium

The Turkish driver was almost 5 seconds ahead of his closest rival for the title, who was second, it was another walk for the favorite to win. With 8 laps to go, Ducati decided to have Bautista go out again, to collect data for Sunday’s race.

The Italian Yamaha rider fell, in a race marked by falls, and Iker Lecuona got into podium positions, although he had a very fast Alex Lowes behind him. Iker was not satisfied with the podium, he started to ride half a second faster than Bulega and wanted to fight with Bulega, although he had him 1.7 seconds behind.

Ahead, everything was almost decided, and except for a serious mistake, the podium was more than decided. Toprak swept the race, almost 10 seconds ahead of Bulega, who was second and Iker Lecuona returned to the podium, starring in one of the best comebacks of the day. Xavi Vierge was eighth, and Tito Rabat tenthon a good day for the Spanish, except Bautista. On the podium, Lecuona couldn’t stop shouting with joy, after a difficult season for him.