MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Czech jazz singer Jan Smigmator opened up the race with the Czech national anthem on the grid as one of the championship contenders was penalised by three spots on the grid before the twenty two lap race started. Hard tyres are the order of the weekend and race one opened at 29ºC.

Alvaro Bautista, after his slowing Danilo Petrucci down in the Superpole session this morning, was demoted to tenth place on the grid, leading the fourth row and promoting Michael Ruben Rinaldi to the third row.

Toprak Razgatlioglu hit turn one first ahead of Nicolo Bulega, but Andrea Iannone pushed through to second place into the right/left turn. Danilo Petrucci held Alvaro Bautista off in fourth place, taking one of Bautista's front wings as a trophy, with Bautista making a very good start with no jump starts declared.

Razgatlioglu started lap two three quarters of a second in the lead with four Ducatis behind him, Iannone leading Bulega and Petrucci with Bautista further back and falling into the clutches of Remy Gardner. Razgatlioglu set a fastest lap of 1'31.805. Axel Bassani and Hayden Gillem were placed under investigation for course cutting.

Lap three, Razgatlioglu set a 1'31.540, a second and a half clear of Iannone and Bulega with Petrucci dropping off the fight for second. Gardner secured his fifth place over Bautista, passing him on the outside, and was followed through shortly after by Alex Lowes muscling his way past Bautista, pushing the Ducati to seventh place. Lap five, Razgatlioglu led by over two seconds as Alex Lowes and Bautista swapped places back and forth, giving Gardner over a second of a gap ahead.

Petrucci caught Iannone and Bulega back, over a second ahead of Gardner, but Gardner was closing over a tenth of a second a lap. Bulega took second place from Iannone at the end of lap six, inviting the independent Ducatis behind him to fight for a factory seat next year.

Axel Bassani was handed a long lap penalty for course cutting while last-placed Hayden Gillem wasn't penalised. Bassani recovered from his penalty in twentieth place.

Petrucci passed Iannone into turn fourteen and held it into turn one of lap ten and he closed up a tenth of a second towards Bulega. Petrucci closed on Bulega and passed him for second place and Iannone and Gardner closed up on the last podium spot.

Honda's race got worse as Iker Lecuona pitted in and retired while Xavi Vierge was handed a long lap penalty for course cutting.

At half race distance, Toprak Razgatlioglu led Danilo Petrucci by over five and a half seconds as Andrea Iannone cut under Nicolo Bulega to take third place. Behind Bulega, Remy Gardner and Alvaro Bautista were within striking distance. Jonathan Rea in eleventh place was handed a long lap penalty as Scott Redding was put under investigation for the same thing. Rea's penalty cost him four seconds hut he retained eleventh place.

Gardner passed Bulega and was followed by Bautista, pushing Bulega back to sixth place. Fifteen laps completed, Razgatlioglu led by almost seven seconds with Petrucci and Iannone fighting for second place, covered by two tenths of a second and grateful for their front tyre choices. Gardner was two and a half seconds off the podium places with Bautista in his wake. Bulega was harassed by Alex Lowes and they swapped places back and forth until Lowes crashed out into turn two, recovering in twentieth place and pitting in.

Petrucci fended off a few attacks from Iannone but remained in second place seven seconds off Razgatlioglu's lonely lead with four laps left. Bautista finally took fourth place from Gardner into turn one of lap nineteen, over three seconds off Iannone's third place.

With three pals remaining, Razgatliouglu was untouchable in the lead with the remaining podium places to be determined between Petrucci and Iannone. Bautista broke free of Gardner in fourth place with Bulega in a safe sixth place.

On the last lap, as Toprak Razgatlioglu wheelied half a kilometre down the straight to take his eighth win in a row, Andrea Iannone hounded Danilo Petrucci, but Petrucci held off his rival to take second place behind Razgatlioglu with Iannone third. Alvaro Bautista made the best of a bad lot taking fourth place, well clear of Remy Gardner and Nicolo Bulega in fifth and sixth.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, with another dominant win and a fine moustache, extended his championship lead to fifty six points over Nicolo Bulega and sixty seven points over Alvaro Bautista, as the Turkish national anthem CD was once again pulled from the top of the pile. 

Andrea Iannone took a podium place on his debut race at Most as Danilo Petrucci took second place in the race, first independent, in spite of a near fatal accident three months ago and regained top independent spot from Iannone. Toprak Razgatlioglu's moustache survived the podium antics.

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