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After the adventures of Aragon comes the latest episode in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with the Circuito Estoril ready for Round 11, the penultimate round of the season and, potentially, a title decider. It’s advantage Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) heading into the Estoril Round, but will the #54 be celebrating a second title on the Portuguese coastline or will Aruba.it Racing – Ducati duo Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista take the fight to the season finale?

WHAT RAZGATLIOGLU NEEDS: a 62-point lead leaving Portugal

Razgatlioglu returned from injury last time out at Aragon and secured three P2 finishes but, crucially for ‘El Turco’, outscored title rival Bulega across the weekend. The gap was just 13 points heading into Spain, but Bulega now trails Razgatlioglu by 39 points, while Bautista is 81 back. The BMW rider can only win the title on Sunday if he outscores Bulega by 23 points across the weekend and loses 19 points at most to Bautista. Razgatlioglu has tasted victory at Estoril before, winning Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race 2 in 2020 while Bautista won in 2022 – after an epic last-lap fight with the Turk. In fact, all three races were decided by last-lap shootouts on WorldSBK’s last visit. For Bulega, it’s his first time at Estoril on a WorldSBK machine but he raced there in 2022 in WorldSSP, taking a podium in Race 1 but not scoring in Race 2.

INDEPENDENT TITLES ON THE LINE: Petrucci and Barni Ducati to secure them?

Danilo Petrucci's (Barni Spark Racing Team) in recent rounds has been nothing short of remarkable, including three wins on home soil at Cremona, and he’s now fourth in the standings ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with the #22 needing to be declared fit following his Aragon spill. He’s 56 points down on Bautista in third, meaning a bronze medal is possible, but Petrucci can also wrap up this year’s Independent Riders’ title at Estoril, with ‘Petrux’ needing a 62-point advantage over Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) to secure it. Barni Ducati can also secure the Independent Teams’ title if they have the same margin over GoEleven, and it’s possible it can be as early as Race 1 if Petrucci finishes ahead of Iannone; to win it then, Barni Ducati would need a 99-point lead and currently have a 107-point advantage.

THREE RIDERS, SIX POINTS: the battle for P6 intensifying

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) currently sits sixth in the Championship standings, but he faces late pressure from Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Iannone to stay there. ‘Loka’ leads that fight on 197 points with van der Mark and ‘The Maniac’ just two points back but finding themselves in podium contention and winning races a lot more often than the #55 Yamaha at this point. Locatelli has two P5s and two P4s in six races at Estoril, while van der Mark was on the rostrum in 2020 in the Superpole Race. As for Iannone, he raced here in Moto2™ three times with a best of P5.

BIG FIGHTS AND PREVIOUS WINNERS: will Estoril be a turning point?

Four of the last five races at Estoril have been won by Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), although these were all when he was on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR. It’s been a challenging year for the #65, not helped by the deep thumb wound and surgery required after his French Round crash, but he’ll be hoping he can get back to top positions after two more weeks of recovery and more time on Yamaha’s new aero package. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who started the season strongly but has seen results tail off in recent rounds, will be hoping to be back in the top-five conversation. He comes into the Estoril Round on the back of a MotoGP™ wildcard at Motegi with Yamaha as the #87 races in five consecutive weekends: Cremona, Aragon, Motegi, Estoril and Jerez. Gardner is locked in a fight with Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) for P9 in the standings, with Gardner currently leading but Gerloff’s run of top-five finishes getting him closer and closer to the Australian. 

GOOD HONDA FORM: Lecuona and Vierge closing in on the top ten

Honda have shown good form lately and Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) and teammate Xavi Vierge will be hoping that continues at a circuit Honda have had one podium at, but this came back in 1988. The pair are separated by just a point and sit 11^th and 12^th in the standings, 35 points back from Gardner in the top ten. Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) is just 12 points behind the Hondas, so he’ll hope to be in the mix at a circuit he has three podiums at when racing for Ducati. Elsewhere, Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was on track at Jerez between rounds as he tested in hot conditions while working on both race and one-lap pace; could that help him in Portugal? Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) has been in the top nine in all but one of his nine Estoril races and will be aiming to end a challenging season on a high, while Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda), Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Philipp Oettl (GMT94 Yamaha) will be looking to get good results at the business end of the season. 

RIDER LINE-UP NEWS: Aegerter hoping to return, Bernardi back in WorldSBK

Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) has missed the last few rounds through injury but outlined his intention to return at Estoril, although he’ll need to pass pre-round medical checks. Adam Norrodin (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) was ruled out of Aragon, so he’ll need to be declared fit to race this weekend. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) is another who will undergo medical checks after his crash at Aragon. Elsewhere, Luca Bernardi will return to WorldSBK action alongside Ray as a wildcard. The Sammarinese rider last competed in WorldSBK in 2022 with Barni Ducati, and he raced at Estoril, scoring points in both Race 1 and Race 2 on the Panigale V4 R.

Enjoy extended highlights from Aragon here, read the FREE Official Programme for Estoril and watch the action for just €9.99 with the WorldSBK VideoPass!