2024 World Superbike Catalunya - Race (1) Results - Toprak Razgatlioglu wins

Results from Race 1, round two of the 2024 World Superbike championship in Barcelona.

23 Mar 2024

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Catalunya WorldSBK, 22 March

Starting from pole for the first time as a BMW rider, Toprak Razgatlioglu made the perfect start as he led into turn one from Andrea Iannone and Sam Lowes.

With three rookies behind him, Razgatlioglu managed to hold off Lowes who had ideas of taking the lead, while Jonathan Rea suffered a disastrous opening lap as he fell to the back of the grid.

2024 World Superbike Catalunya - Race (1) Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	20 Laps
2	Nicolo Bulega	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.868s
3	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+5.338s
4	Andrea Iannone	ITA	GoEleven Ducati	+8.543s
5	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+9.818s
6	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+11.190s
7	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+12.020s
8	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+12.329s
9	Michael Van Der Mark	NED	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+16.677s
10	Axel Bassani	ITA	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+17.144s
11	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	SPA	Motocorsa Ducati	+18.895s
12	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+19.477s
13	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+22.194s
14	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+22.233s
15	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+32.087s
16	Tarran Mackenzie	GBR	Petronas Mie Honda	+34.181s
17	Scott Redding	GBR	Bonovo Action BMW	+37.540s
18	Bradley Ray	GBR	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+38.241s
19	Philipp Oettl	GER	GMT94 Yamaha	+38.752s
20	Adam Norrodin	MAL	Petronas Mie Honda	+59.422s
21	Tito Rabat	SPA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+1 Lap
22	Sam Lowes	GBR	Marc VDS Ducati	DNF
23	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	DNF

Rea then returned to pit lane as riders began lap two, with the six-time world champion needing to retire his R1.

At the front, Lowes was continuing to hound Razgatlioglu before taking the lead at turn five on lap three.

Lowes immediately pulled away from the BMW rider, as Razgatlioglu seemed to be holding back in a bid to conserve his rear tyre.

In fourth, Nicolo Bulega was attempting to overtake Iannone which was provig difficult after a failed move at turn ten [lap three].

Bulega’s second attempt was more successful as he went through under braking at turn one [lap five].

Meanwhile, Lowes was now a full second clear of Razgatlioglu as Ducati’s dominance was in full flow.

Bulega wasted no time in taking second away from Razgatlioglu, which just as quickly turned into P1 as Lowes crashed out at turn ten.

Something we very rarely see, Razgatlioglu was pushed back to third as Iannone out-braked the BMW rider at turn one [lap seven].

As Bulega dropped Iannone and Razgatlioglu by over two seconds, Bautista began making progress as he latched onto the rear of Danilo Petrucci for P7.

Bautista followed Petrucci through on Alex Lowes and Andrea Locatelli, while another change for second took place as Razgatlioglu went through on Iannone.

Bautista’s progress continued with seven laps to go as he overtook Petrucci at turn one.

Following Bautista through on Michael Van Der Mark, Petrucci delivered a very good move under braking to steal fifth place away from the Dutchman.

Bautista was not done there as he closed in on Iannone after dropping Petrucci.

The two-time world champion eventually got through at the final corner as the pair began lap 18.

At the front, Bulega was beginning to suffer as Razgatlioglu brought a gap of nearly five seconds down to 1.9s with two laps to go.

A stunning penultimate lap from Razgatlioglu saw the gap drop below one second before the Turkish superstar went through at turn five to complete a breathtaking comeback.