Razgatlioglu edges closer to World Superbike title

Toprak Razgatlioglu leads the championship by 46 points going into next weekend's final round in Jerez when a possible 62 points can be accumulated

Toprak Razgatlioglu will take a 46-point lead into the final round of the World Superbike Championship after winning race two in Estoril on Sunday.

Following his race one victory on Saturday, the Turkish rider was edged out by his only remaining title rival Nicolo Bulega in the tightest finish in World Superbikes history as the Italian Ducati rider clinched a superpole triumph by 0.003 seconds.

However, BMW's Razgatlioglu was back to his dominant best in race two as he recovered from being only fifth early on to finish well ahead of Ducati's Bulega and last year's champion Alvaro Bautista.

With a maximum 62 points available in next weekend's final round Jerez, the 27-year-old looks odds on to add to his previous title triumph in 2021.

Northern Ireland's six-time champion Jonathan Rea was fourth to produce his best long-race performance of this season after finishing a lowly 22nd in the earlier superpole race following a slide on lap five.

Bautista led for nearly a third of race two but was passed by Razgatlioglu on lap seven and then dropped to third two laps later as his Ducati team-mate Bulega moved into second spot.

Andrea Locatelli and Iker Lecuona both slid off in different mishaps which left Rea on his own in fourth place as Michael van der Mark and Xavi Vierge completed the top-six positions.

Nicolo Bulega edged out Toprak Razgatlioglu in the closest finish in World Superbikes history in the earlier superpole race

Razgatlioglu looked to have the earlier 12-lap superpole race under control as he held a comfortable lead at halfway but was reeled in Bulega who then produced a stunning final corner to snatch victory by 0.003 seconds.

Rea produced a fast start to move up to second place on lap one of the superpole race but slid off on lap five after he had dropped down the field before remounting to eventually finish 22nd.

The Northern Ireland man, in his first season at Yamaha after his long successful stint at Kawasaki, was fifth in Saturday's race one on the tight Portuguese circuit, with his sole podium this year coming when taking third in the superpole race in the British round.

The previous closest race finish in World Superbikes history came at Phillip Island in Australia in 2010 when Leon Haslam edged out Michel Fabrizio by 0.004 seconds.

Bautista moved up the field to complete the superpole podium positions with Andrea Locatelli, Danilo Petrucci and Great Britain's Alex Lowes filling out the top six positions.

Razgatlioglu took victory in race one ahead of Bulega when third-placed Iker Lecuona gave Honda their first podium finish of 2024.

The Turkish rider's title lead is even more impressive given that he missed last month's two rounds in France and Italy after suffering a collapsed lung in a practice crash at Magny-Cours.