Misano, Race 1: Razgatlıoğlu wins and takes the lead in the championship

There was no story in Game 1 of WorldSBK in Misano. He arrived with the aim of a hat-trick: one went, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu wins without leaving the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati duo any chance of reply: the Turk precedes Nicolò Bulega and Álvaro Bautista, going into the lead of the championship with a three-point lead.

Razgatlıoğlu is unreachable, Ducati completes the podium

The hug with Marco Melandri at the end of the heat is emblematic. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, with the victory in Race 1 at the Misano World Circuit he becomes the first BMW rider to top the world championship since 2012, when the man from Ravenna fought for the world title then won by Max Biaggi. The Turkish driver thus took the first heat victory of the weekend with an attack in the first laps. To tell the truth, the #54 didn’t even have to properly attack Remy Gardner, who was good at releasing the clutch and first in the early stages of the race. Yamaha’s Australian made a mistake at the “Oak”, going long and thus giving the leadership to his former brand mate. From then on, Razgatlıoğlu showed a pace that was unmatched by anyone, taking the lead in the first laps and proving uncatchable for the two Ducatis.

In fact, the disappointment is probably represented by the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team. Serafino Foti’s team completed the podium in their home round, but didn’t even give BMW a fight. Nicolò Bulega he lost a few positions after a certainly not brilliant start, only to then quickly get back on track. Once he passed Gardner, Bulega spent a lap behind the team leader Álvaro Bautista, only to then overtake him and leave the two-time world champion slightly behind. The two Panigale V4Rs struggled with grip on the front, also due to the softer choice compared to that adopted by Razgatlıoğlu.

Andrea Locatelli is 4th, a stoic Danilo Petrucci is 9th

There’s another Italy just off the Misano podium: Andrea Locatelli he finished in 4th place in a heat managed rather well, thus confirming himself as the best Yamaha at the expense of a Remy Gardner quite growing. The Bergamo native brought with him Alex Loweswhich in 2024 was reborn without the cumbersome presence of Jonathan Rea in the box. The Northern Irishman himself, who moved to Yamaha, continues a truly complicated adaptation to the R1: on the first lap, Rea had a disastrous crash at the “Chariot” at high speed, and was then taken to the medical center for tests.

Gardner finished in 6th place after leading in the opening laps, ahead of the Ducati Andrea Iannonestruggling with grip problems. Michael Van Der Mark he finishes in 8th position with the second official BMW ahead of an incredible team Danilo Petrucci, still in pain after returning from the terrible injury suffered in motocross and 9th at the finish line. Closing out the top 10 is Iker Lecuona with Honda, which benefited from Sam Lowes’ crash while he was 8th. Axel Bassani came 9th after the battle with the Spaniard from HRC, while Michele Pirro and Michael Ruben Rinaldi were 13th and 14th respectively.