The 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship title race has been unpredictable in recent weeks and that theme continued at MotorLand Aragon. After Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) took 79 points of Toprak Razgatlioglu's (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) title lead in France and Italy, it was game on during the Tissot Aragon Round. Razgatlioglu returned to action and secured three podium finishes to extend his title lead by 26 points.

STATE OF PLAY: a 39-point lead heading into Estoril…

In Saturday’s Race 1, Razgatlioglu finished second behind Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) to gain 20 points over rival Bulega after a technical issue on the warm up lap for the restarted race put him out of contention. That cost him a shot at either extending his lead or potentially reducing Razgatlioglu’s gains, with the gap standing at 33 points at the end of Saturday’s action as Razgatlioglu moved onto 385 points.

On Sunday, Bulega was able to remain in contention in both the Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2. In the 10-lap race, Bulega finished in third after an epic three-way battle between him, Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) that was decided on the final lap. That enabled Bautista to close in on both Bulega and Razgatlioglu, trailing them by 51 and 86 points respectively.  With ‘El Turco’ ahead of Bulega, he extended his lead to 35 points. That went out to 39 points in Race 2, with Razgatlioglu finishing second behind Bautista while Bulega had early-race misfortune before battling back to P3.

QUICK PERMUTATIONS: it could happen at Estoril…

It means that mathematically, Razgatlioglu, Bulega and Bautista are all in title contention heading to the Circuito Estoril in two weeks. ‘El Turco’ can be crowned Champion for a second time in Portugal if he leaves 62 or more points clear of his rivals – with Razgatlioglu on 15 wins and six left, he will win any countback.

RAZGATLIOGLU’S THOUGHTS: “I’m just thinking about winning the race there…”

Talking about the Championship fight and potentially being crowned Champion in Portugal, Razgatlioglu said he was just focused on claiming victory at the Portuguese venue: “Maybe at Estoril, we could be the World Champions there; we will see. I’m just thinking about winning the race there because I love Estoril. With Yamaha, I won there. With BMW, I’m waiting for the race because I need to win there again. After many wins, second position is a little bit difficult for me!”

The 2021 Champion also reviewed his Sunday at Aragon, saying: “The Superpole Race was very fun! It was the first time I felt the bike was really good; the bike was turning and stopping, the feeling was much better. I fought with Bulega. I was very close to the win but two corners before, I lost it. Why am I very happy? We did an incredible job this weekend and I gave 100%, I was riding more than 100%.”

BULEGA SAYS: “I don’t expect team orders, I just want to do my best…”

When asked whether this weekend was a lost opportunity, Bulega said: “We were unlucky this weekend, but it wasn’t from our side. Yesterday, I lost a lot of points due to the technical issue and today I didn’t have a very good feeling with my bike. Yesterday, we didn’t do the race, so we lost a lot of information for today’s two races. In the end, it’s a podium, but we want more.”

Bulega was then asked about team orders for Estoril, where Razgatlioglu can be crowned Champion, but flat-out refuted the idea of them: “I don’t expect them, and I don’t want anything. I just want to do my best.”

Reflecting on a double podium on Sunday, Bulega said: “The start of the race was very difficult because I lost some positions with some aggressive riders at the beginning of the race. I almost touched van der Mark under braking, I had to pick up the bike, ran wide and I lost maybe 6 or 7 positions. I think I was P9. I recovered for a podium, but I lost the chance to fight for the top two positions. Alvaro and Toprak did a very good job, congratulations to them. I’ll try again next time.”

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