Toprak Razgatlioglu: Aragon WorldSBK win “difficult”, Nicolo Bulega “very strong”

Race 1 at the Aragon WorldSBK saw Toprak Razgatlioglu take his 13th successive race win in his title defence season, but this was perhaps the hardest-fought of that run.

Only 0.030 seconds separated Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega over the line on the 18th lap of 18 in Race 1 at Aragon.

For Razgatlioglu, who’d never managed better than second before this year at MotorLand, it was a maiden World Superbike victory in Aragon that saw him extend his championship lead over Bulega to 44 points. 

But it was not a straightforward win, he explained, because of the strength of Bulega, particularly in the final part of the lap – strength that was largely responsible for the 0.030-second gap between the two over the line on the last lap.

“I’m very happy because finally I’ve won at Aragon,” said Toprak Razgatlioglu, speaking to WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Aragon.

“It was a difficult race for me. We fought a lot in the beginning. 

“I was just focused on winning but this was difficult for me because Bulega was very strong in the final corner. On the back straight and the final corner, the Ducati is the best. 

“I was pushing so hard in the first three sectors to make a gap. In the last seven or eight laps, I understood he was riding on the limit. 

“I’m pushing hard every lap, in every corner. I’m trying to stay calm.”

Razgatlioglu noted that the style of this race was in contrast to the ones that came before it, despite the similar look to the results sheet.

“In the last races, I was riding alone,” he said.

“This weekend wasn’t like this. Everyone watched a nice race! 

“Nicolo was very strong here. I didn’t have a strategy, I just focused on riding in front of him and my pace. 

“My pace wasn’t very strong today. Conditions were a bit hotter than yesterday. 

“I tried to not make mistakes and finally I won. It was close but I wasn’t focused on that, just winning the race.”