During the final lap of celebration after the victory in race 1 at Misano, Toprak Razgatlioglu went to hug Marco Melandri at the edge of the track and it was no coincidence: today’s victory allowed the Turkish driver to become the first BMW driver to drive the WorldSBK Championship after Marco Melandri in 2012!
In fact, Toprak achieved an extraordinary victory in Race 1 at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” after starting in pole position. Nicolo Bulega and reigning world champion Alvaro Bautista both attempted to follow the BMW driver, but had to settle for second and third place. Bulega, in particular, showed pace and consistency throughout Race 1, while Bautista started to go strong towards the end of the race, after struggling to find rhythm in the opening laps of Race 1. Bautista spoke openly about his difficulty in finding a solid setup on the front of his Panigale V4 R.
Yamaha also had a good day, with both Andrea Locatelli and Remy Gardner fourth and sixth respectively. Satisfaction also at Kawasaki, with Alex Lowes completing the top five. Seventh place, with some traction problems for Andrea Iannone, while Danilo Petrucci can be satisfied with ninth place, returning after the motocross injury and severe pain in his right shoulder.
However, Jonathan Rea’s difficulties in adapting to the R1 continue, as he suffered a frightening fall on the first lap and was subsequently taken to the medical center for a check-up. He will be re-evaluated before tomorrow morning’s warm-up session.
WorldSBK Misano standings – Race 1
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1,782
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.176
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +10.337
5. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +11.671
6. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +14.822
