“It just takes one crash and it can all change” – it epitomises what we’re seeing right now in the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) pride really did come before a fall and now, having missed six races and seen his Championship advantage whittled down by 79 points. Whilst he’s pending to return to race, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) can once again grab the advantage and seize the initiative. The final quarter of the season is upon us but the drama may only just be about to start.
RAZGATLIOGLU VS BULEGA IN DEPTH: the whole situation unboxed
He’s still leading the Championship after Bulega failed to snatch it from him and make the most of an open goal at Cremona but now, Toprak Razgatlioglu needs to be declared fit to ride if he’s to remain in realistic contention for the Championship. BMW played an interesting strategy to introduce a seventh engine to Toprak’s allocation at Cremona, resulting in a heavy penalty for substitute rider Markus Reiterberger – but now it’s served, Toprak will come back not only with the engine in his allocation but without a penalty around his neck too. The team have given him the best tools to fight with for his return.
As for Nicolo Bulega, ‘points make prizes’ could have been his motto at Cremona and a cirucit he doesn’t like but it was a missed opportunity to inflict maximum damage. Instead, he’s still 13 adrift of Toprak, meaning that even if he won all three races at Aragon if the #54 was absent, the Italian would be 49 ahead with six races to run. Aragon hasn’t been Toprak’s strongest circuit in recent years whilst ‘Bulegas’ was a double winner there last year in WorldSSP. Even if Toprak returns, there’ll be huge question marks over his fitness, particularly how it will be sustained over a certain duration. For Bulega, we’re also perhaps waiting for the first true rookie error of the year – Magny-Cours was a flag-to-flag race where everyone was just as vulnerable but in normal conditions, we’re yet to see him crack. In 2020, rookie Scott Redding cracked late on and it was at Aragon…
CLOSING IN AND STILL IN TOUCH: Bautista in P3, Petrucci closes on battle
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) has won at Aragon seven times in WorldSBK, all for Ducati – including four of the last six races there. He always goes well in Alcaniz and now, he’s 82 points behind Toprak having been over 140 back just a couple of rounds ago. Missed opportunities have plagued him since Most but if Toprak’s not back this weekend, then Bautista could be about to start a late winning run – something we know he’s capable of. His biggest problem has been Superpole; the front two rows of the grid are a must for the #1. Missed opportunities have also hurt Alex Lowes’ (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) chances of taking P3 from Bautista with big points going begging in both Race 1 at Magny-Cours and Cremona.
He’s now 28 behind but just three ahead of the form rider Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team). Some of the best scenes of the year came from Cremona, where ‘Petrux’ stormed to three wins and hauled himself into the P3 battle. The #9 is another rider who can feature at the front at Aragon, having come from last to P5 in 2023 and having strong pace throughout the weekend. Eight podiums in nine races, Petrucci has scored more points than anyone else in the last three rounds. He’s making the second half of the year his own. This, along with Bautista’s potential at Aragon, Toprak’s potential return and the room for a surprise elsewhere doesn’t necessarily bode well for Bulega’s hopes of a cleansweep.
REST OF THE TOP 10: podium potential for those ready to upset title heavyweight
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) struggled in recent rounds and is without a top six finish since his P3 at Most in Race 2; he’s just seven points ahead of Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who was unable to take points off teammate Toprak’s main title rivals last time out. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) had great potential at Cremona but it was squandered by a Race 1 crash and a Race 2 retirement – a Superpole Race podium saved the day – whilst Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) round out the top ten.
HONDA POTENTIAL: Lecuona and Vierge finding form
The podium door is being knocked by Honda; Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) took the manufacturer’s best result of the year with P4 in Race 1 at Cremona, whereas teammate Xavi Vierge was likewise in the top six. Six races in a row where the team have achieved double top ten finishes, the Honda has been making steps and now goes to Aragon where they tested at before Cremona, meaning they know the new grip levels following the resurfacing works undergone by the circuit. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) splits them in P12 overall and he should be back in competitive action this weekend. New-father Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) is in P14, two points ahead of Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who has found form in recent rounds.
ROUNDING OUT THE GRID: Rinaldi races for his future on hallowed turf
Dominique Aegerter’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) presence is to be confirmed as he recovers from injury, whereas Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) was a winner at Aragon last year and it’s also the place where he won for the first time, back in 2020. Once again, he heads to the round racing for his future. Without a top ten since Donington Park, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) seeks a strong result to end his rookie season on a high. Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was strong at Cremona with a double top ten on Sunday, so he’ll be hoping to showcase that potential again, whilst Brad Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) is another rider who showed good promise last weekend. Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda), teammate Adam Norrodin and Philipp Oettl (GMT94 Yamaha) complete the field, all in search of strong points.
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Source: WorldSBK.com