DEFINING STORIES, ROUND 7: Razgatlioglu soars to a new WorldSBK record as Bautista crashes at Portimao
Round 7 of 2024 came from the rollercoaster Portimao circuit in Portugal and continued to provide thrills and spills
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship ventured to the iconic Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in August for a sunset showdown as the second half of an unforgettable 2024 season got underway, and it was a record-breaking Portuguese Round. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made it four consecutive hat-tricks as he claimed his 13th win in a row while there was a glimpse of the battle we’d been waiting for between him and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), until the #1 fell at Turn 5 in Race 2. Catch up on the Race 1 and Race 2 action HERE and watch highlights of the Tissot Superpole Race for free on YouTube – and don’t forget to subscribe for more!
RAZGATLIOGLU GETS AIR: an FP2 jump to remember
‘El Turco’ has made a habit of jumping over the crest between Turns 8 and 9 in recent years, and 2024 was no different. It didn’t happen after Friday’s running for a couple of reasons but, on Saturday when Free Practice 3 ended, Razgatlioglu completed his iconic jump. He took the BMW to new heights – both metaphorically and literally – as he started the weekend in style.
RECORD BREAKING RAZGATLIOGLU: win #13 in a row…
The now two-time WorldSBK Champion headed into Portimao on the verge of history, having won the previous 10 races on a streak from Assen Race 2 to Most Race 2. Portimao, a track the Turkish star missed out on victory at last year by the smallest of margins, was the perfect venue for him to redeem that and then make history – and he duly did so. In Race 1, he won his 11th race in a row to equal the record held by Bautista and Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), who set it while with Kawasaki, before breaking it on Sunday with victory in the Superpole Race and Race 2.
BAUTISTA'S DIFFICULT 2024 CONTINUES: the #1 falls while fighting Razgatlioglu
Bautista had endured a tricky 2024 so far but had been looking closer to his best in recent rounds, despite a non-score on Sunday at Most in the previous round. He was sixth in Superpole – his second best of the first seven rounds – and finished second and sixth in Race 1 and the Superpole Race respectively. In Race 2, he was able to close up to the back of Razgatlioglu’s BMW machine and the pair were side by side through the first sector of the lap. Bautista got the inside line through the left-hander of Turn 4 although his rival fought back on the short run to Turn 5. As Bautista tried to keep up with Razgatlioglu, he lost the front of his Panigale V4 R and crashed at the hairpin. He remounted and finished the race but a chance of victory, and points, had gone.
2025 LOADING: get set for next season by reliving epic moments from 2024 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!
