MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Twenty one laps of an inclement Estoril circuit, the track had some damp patches but the start was a dry 21ºC. Toprak Razgatlioglu cannot secure the 2024 title today, but he can make it possible for tomorrow.

The race opened with Danilo Petrucci leading Andrea Locatelli and Razgatlioglu. Jonathan Rea pushed past Nicole Bulega to take fourth place from him and passed Razgatlioglu at the hook chicane. Locatelli took the lead from Petrucci into turn one as Razgatlioglu took third back from Rea into turn one. Rea missed his braking marker but had enough of a lead over Bulega to turn in enough to block a pass.

Andrea Locatelli set a 1'37.708 fastest lap as Remy Gardner crashed out, punching the gravel in frustration. Rea and Bulega had a battle into turn one and Bulega came off the worst, losing three places and ending up in seventh. Andrea Bautista and Alex Lowes took fifth and sixth places.

Razgatlioglu completed lap three with a 1'37.677 fastest lap, settling into second place behind Locatelli.

At the start of lap five, Razgatlioglu activated his superpower and took the lead into turn one. Half a second behind them, Bautista charged past Petrucci. Nicolo Bulega, once again behind Rea, set a 1'37.457 and passed Rea and Alex Lowes. Lowe4s went deep into turn one and Bulega and Rea slipped past in to turn two. Rea based Bulega and caught up with Petrucci, bringing Bulkega with him. Rea passed Petrucci into turn nine and held fourth place until lap seven. When Bulega powered past Petrucci and Rea down the straight. Bautista also made a move down the straight to take second place from Locatelli.

Axel Bassani crashed out on the front tyre and Petrucci crashed into turn seven on lap seven.

Lap nine started with Razgatlioglu leading Bautista by under a second with Locatelli seven tenths further back. Bulega was an another seven tenths behind with Rea fighting Iker Lecuona a second and a half behind them. Lecuona passed Rea and lAlex Lowes followed through behind him.

Toprak Razgatlioglu started lap ten of twenty one with a 1'37.149 fastest lap, over a second clear of Bautista with Locatelli under a second behind second place with Bulega on his tail.

Half race distance, Razgatlioglu's tyre finally paid off and he extended his lead to over two seconds over Bautista with Locatelli and Bulega a second further back. Iker Lecuona won out in the battle with Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea as Michael van der Mark closed up.

Lap eleven, Bautista crashed out into turn six, losing the front and ending his day and championship hopes. Nicolo Bulega inherited second place ahead of Locatelli. Lecuona was almost half a second quicker than Locatelli, closing up on the last podium place.

Razgatlioglu started lap fourteen over four seconds clear of Bulega, lapping over three tenths of a second quicker than anyone else on lap thirteen, only Alex Lowes in fifth and Garrett Gerloff in ninth within half a second.

Two thirds race distance was completed with Razgatlioglu almost five seconds clear of Bulega. Locatelli was still four tenths off the pace of the riders closing behind him, but he crashed into turn seven, putting Lecuona onto the podium.

Bautista returned to the track to gather data and rejoined ahead of Razgatlioglu but in nineteenth position. Razgatlioglu led by over six seconds as he maintained an unmatched pace in the lead.

Three laps remaining, Razgatlioglu led Bulega by over seven seconds and stopped Lecuona's charge by increasing his pace to manage his second place lead over Lecuona at two seconds. Two laps to go and Razgatlioglu led by almost eight seconds as Bulega maintained his pace to match Lecuona behind him again. Garrett Gerloff passed van der Mark into turn one, and the pair swapped back and forth with Gerloff finally holding sixth place and building a gap from his fellow BMW rider.

Razgatlioglu started the last lap with an eight second lead, still in the 1'37s, with everyone behind settled in their places, and the race was decided.

Toprak Razgatlioglu took a clear victory over nine seconds ahead of Nicolo Bulega. Iker Lecuona in third place grabbed the first Honda podium in a very long time. Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea missed out on the podium with sixth placed Garrett Gerloff behind them.

On his cool down lap, Toprak Razgatlioglu was pulled over by a couple of nutters in lab coats armed with stethoscopes and clipboards to demonstrate his clean bill of health, Phil Marron saying before the race that Razgatlioglu was back to full health. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu leads Nicolo Bulega by forty four points, giving him the chance to take the title tomorrow. Alvaro Bautista is a hundred and six points off the title with under a hundred points remaining, ending his hopes of retaining the title.

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