WSB 2024: Razgatlioglu surges clear

Razgatlioglu surges clear

With back-to-back rounds in the World Superbike Championship (WSB) in July, there were plenty of points on offer at Donington Park and Most and the man to make the most of it was Toprak Razgatlioglu, again, with the Turkish rider surging clear at the top of the title standings.

Can anyone beat Toprak?

A hat-trick at Donington Park made it a stunning seven wins in a row for Razgatlioglu and the BMW Motorrad team and he didn’t stop there, repeating the feat at Most in the Czech Republic. That made it ten on the spin for the 27-year old and helped him go an ominous-looking 64 points clear at the top of the championship table.

It’s unprecedented times for BMW who, despite ploughing in millions into their World Superbike efforts over the last 10-15 years, have never previously scaled such heights. Indeed, Razgatlioglu – in his first year with the German manufacturer – has already won more races than everyone else on a BMW combined.

Toprak Razgatlioglu WSB Image Credit BMW Motorrad World SBK Team

The victories at Donington and Most saw him dominate proceedings and leave the rest of the field trailing in his wake, particularly the former where the opening race saw him win by more than 11 seconds. The ten victories have come at vastly different circuits too – Catalunya, Misano, Donington and Most – so it seems the combination of Razgatlioglu and the M1000RR now have the job sussed.

Of course, we’re only at the halfway mark and there are still plenty of races left and points available – 18 races and 372 points to be precise – but he looks so comfortable at present that the question has to be, can anyone stop him?

Bulega leads Ducati charge

Nicolo Bulega continues to lead the chasing pack with the Italian maintaining his record of finishing on the podium at least once every round. That’s being aided by his superb form, and speed, in qualifying which has seen him only qualify outside of the top two once at the first six rounds.

That was at Most where he took fourth, but anyone will tell you getting a good grid position gives you a much better chance of getting a result come race day. Bulega is getting dialled in with the Superbike quicker than any of the other Ducati riders at every round and that’s helping him get the best results, no mean feat given his relative lack of experience when compared to his rivals.

Nicolo Bulega WSB Image Credit Ducati Racing

The 24-year old was well prepared coming into his maiden WSB season having clocked up hundreds of miles on the Panigale V4R throughout the second half of last year and in pre-season and he’s continuing to make the most of his opportunity. 11 podiums have come his way in the first 18 races and, at this moment in time it’s hard to look past him as Ducati’s best hope.

Bautista falters

One reason, and a considerable one at that, for saying Bulega is Ducati’s leading challenger is that July has been nothing short of a disastrous month for reigning champion Alvaro Bautista, Most in particular a meeting to forget.

Third at Donington started the month in solid manner but he then, inexplicably, crashed on the sighting lap for the second race. He never really recovered from that over the rest of the meeting, fifth and sixth the outcome, and half the number of points to Razgatlioglu across the three races, 31 to 62, was hardly what he needed as he tries to get his title defence back on track.

Bautista Image Credit Ducati Racing

However, if he thought Donington had gone badly, it was nothing compared to Most where he came away with just a fourth-place finish in race one and 13 points to Toprak’s 62 once more. Third, at least, should have been taken in race two only for him to crash out at the start of the final lap as he dived up the inside of Bulega in an attempt to take the runners-up spot.

It was another mistake from the Spaniard and, desperate to get something out of the weekend, the first corner was again his downfall in the final race of the weekend. This time, it wasn’t his fault as he was collected by fellow Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci, but the net result was that he left the Czech Republic a whopping 104 points behind Razgatlioglu. And with his title challenge faltering, that looks an insurmountable mountain to climb – his career is at stake, and he knows it.

Comeback trail

To say it’s been a hugely disappointing season for six-time champion Jonathan Rea would be a huge understatement but there’s been shoots of recovery of late with the Yamaha rider making the most of the month off after Misano. Recharging the batteries certainly helped as he claimed his first podium of the season at Donington – the fact it took until round five for that to happen though shows how difficult the opening few rounds have been.

Jonathan Rea Image Credit Yamaha Racing

Three top eight finishes at his home round were a step in the right direction; he scored almost as many points in that one meeting as he had done at the previous four and although he couldn’t improve on that at Most, that was largely due to a crash early on in qualifying which left him down in 15th on the grid.

Fighting through the pack in the first two races was always going to be difficult but tenth in race one was followed by ninth in race two, the latter crucially giving him a third-row start, rather than row five, for the final race. He made it count with sixth place his second top six finish in as many meetings and although sixth is a long way from where he wants to be, he’ll be hoping he’s made a step forward with the R1 Yamaha and that it’s the start of his comeback in the 2024 season.

Petrucci and Iannone continue to star

Although a bit further down the current championship order – Alex Lowes continues in a strong fourth place overall – the Ducati pairing of Danilo Petrucci (Barni Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) have proven to be podium contenders more often than not.

Perhaps now in the twilight of their careers, the former MotoGP riders – and winners – are both making a good fist of it for different reasons, Petrucci because he’s fought back from serious injuries sustained in a motocross accident earlier this year, and Iannone because he’s returning from a four-year doping ban.

Petrucci leads Rea Image Credit Barni Racing

Iannone is perhaps the more impressive. Returning to the sport, and one of the most competitive series’ in the world at that, after so long out would be a tall order for any rider and whilst he does have a factor Ducati at his disposal, his results have probably surprised many. Alternatively, it just shows what a class act he is and how his ban deprived him of four years of his career, and prime years at that.

Despite arguing his innocence, he served his ban and whilst retiring would probably have been the easier option, he’s shown considerable resolve to come back to the sport at such a high level. He shades the podium count, three to Petrucci’s two but the latter remains one of the most popular in the paddock and his podium at Most would have been celebrated by many given the nature of the injuries he’s come back from. Both will have a significant part to play in the second half of the season.