MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

The last day of racing this season opens with the Superpole race to determine the grid position for the last race. Everyone faces a 20ºC morning on the SCQ tyre, apart from Iker Lecuona.

Nicolo Bulega hit turn one first, holding the outside line to lead Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes with Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli and Iker Lecuona behind them. Alex Lowes held up the riders behind him on lap one as Bulega and Razgatlioglu put a second into the lead. Razgatlioglu took the lead from Bulega on turn five of lap two before the first of the short straights but further back both Hondas crashed into turn six at the end of the short straight.

Toprak Razgatlioglu set a fastest lap of 1'38.890 with Bulega in his wake. Alex Lowes, Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Locatelli led the fight for third place as Lowes recovered his pace to close to the riders over a second ahead of him.

Iker Lecuona was taken to the medical centre after his crash with Xavi Vierge.

Five laps of ten down, Toprak Razgatlioglu led Nicolo Bulega by a handful of tenths with Alex Lowes, Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli and Michael van der Mark all fighting for third place over a second off the leaders. At turn five of lap six, the rookie of the year, Nicolo Bulega took the lead from Razgatlioglu and ran away to set a 1'38.528 fastest lap and lead of almost half a second.

In third place, two seconds off the leaders, Alex Lowes built a gap from Petrucci with Locatelli and van der Mark almost a second further back as the race stretched out with three laps left.

Bulega continued to pull away at the front, drawing out over a second and a half with two laps left. Two seconds further back, Alex Lowes's lead over Petrucci was eaten away with Petrucci closing to half a second off the Kawasaki man.

The last lap, Bulega led Razgatlioglu by two seconds with Lowes two seconds further off. action was restricted to the fight for ninth place with Alvaro Bautista passing Dominique Aegerter and Jonathan Rea for the last third row place.

Nicolo Bulega took the win ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alex Lowes with Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Locatelli and Michael van der Mark missing out on the podium, making top the second row for race two. Garrett Gerloff would have headed the third row ahead of Andrea Iannone and Alvaro Bautista, but he lost a grid position for a green paint infringement. 

Nicolo Bulega has one last chance to take his first career triple in his rookie year this afternoon.

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