The first place and second place sitters in the World Superbike Championship Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). The two gave racing fans an incredible back and forth battle in race 1 at Imola. Razgatlioglu lead for the first half of the race but after trading elbows and couple of on track scraps Bautista was able to recover and take the win. The win was Bautista’s 17th win of the season.
Bautista stated to the media, Discussing his win, “Honestly, I didn’t expect to win. It was only my second time here at Imola. Today, we made a small change to the bike, and I felt much better in the morning. It started to feel like it did at the other tracks. The race was really tough because it was hot and very slippery. In the beginning, I didn’t feel much confidence to push in the opening laps. I saw several riders with more confidence than me. I started to, step by step, push more. We were missing some grip. I thought it was maybe because I don’t have clean air and the front is struggling a bit. I had some laps with clean air. The feeling with the front was improving so I tried to stay in front and, at least, the front was better.”
The wins means Bautista’s lead in the standings is now at 98 points over Razgatlioglu. Razgatlioglu is 96 points clear of teammate Locatelli in third place. There will be more action tomorrow with the Superpole Race and Race 2. You can check out exclusive video content here WorldSBK VideoPass!
Full Race results can be found below