Toprak Razgatlioglu “really enjoying” Nicolo Bulega WorldSBK battles

The WorldSBK Superpole Race saw Toprak Razgatlioglu come out on top in another battle with Nicolo Bulega, while Alvaro Bautista made it onto the podium from ninth on the grid.

Razgatlioglu’s winning margin was once again less than a-tenth-of-a-second, with the reigning World Superbike Champion saying that he enjoyed the battle with Ducati’s Bulega.

“I’m really enjoying to battle with Nicolo [Bulega] – not many laps, but I’m enjoying,” Razgatlioglu said in his post-race TV interview.

“It looks like we’re improving the bike a little bit, but I need more improvements for Race 2 because it’s 20 laps and we need also a very strong pace like Superpole. We will see.

“Thanks to my team, today we improved the bike because everyone is working really hard, and we will see this afternoon because Race 2 for me is very important.”

Bulega: race pace “amazing”

Nicolo Bulega was forced to make do with second place for the second time this weekend in the Superpole Race, but maintaiend his appreciation for Razgatlioglu’s pace.

“Congratulations to Toprak [Razgatlioglu] again, he was very fast like always,” Bulega said post-race in parc ferme.

“We did an amazing race pace and it was difficult to follow him all the race.

“I tried until the last corner but it was not enough. I’m still happy anyway, because to fight with Toprak here is always difficult, but I will try again in Race 2.”

Bautista: “It’s much better than yesterday”

After crashing out on the opening lap of Race 1 due to contact with Scott Redding, Alvaro Bautista was pleased to get to the chequered flag in the Superpole Race. Third place means he will be able to better use his pace in Race 2, and possibly fight with Bulega and Razgatlioglu.

“For sure it’s much better than yesterday, at least I can do more than three corners,” Bautista joked in parc ferme after the Superpole Race.

“I enjoyed it a lot, because it was a great battle, starting from the back you have to recover to pass the other riders and I enjoyed it a lot.

“The pace was quite fast, so I don’t know if starting in the front I can be with the front riders because Nicolo [Bulega] and Toprak [Razgatlioglu] had a really impressive pace.

“But, in any case, it’s a good position for Race 2 and later it will be different because it will be a bit longer. I will try to make a good start and try to do my best.”