Race 1 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours provided yet another twist in what has been an incredible 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) took his seventh victory at the French venue to close the gap on Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the title fight. The #54 battled hard to get to the front before resisting pressure from Bautista’s teammate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, to claim a hard-fought win during the Pirelli French Round.
The 2021 Champion started from fourth on the grid but was immediately in contention at the head of the field with a superb launch, and, while the #1 was ahead in the opening laps, Razgatlioglu made his move on his rival on Lap 2 at Turn 13. Bautista stayed close to the Turkish star but dropped down the order when he seemingly had a technical issue coming out of Turn 5. Bautista fell to last although he was able to recover to finish tenth.
While Bautista was fighting his way through the field, Razgatlioglu was going head-to-head with Rinaldi for victory. The Italian made his way past the Yamaha rider on Lap 5 at Turn 11, with Razgatlioglu running wide, and he was able to remain ahead until Lap 14. Razgatlioglu tried to make a move at Turn 5, but Rinaldi responded on the exit with his adversary sticking close through the Nurburgring chicane and the 180-degree hairpin. At Turn 11, Razgatlioglu pulled a similar move to the one Rinaldi made on him to claim the lead and eventually, despite the #21’s best efforts, pulled away from the Ducati for victory.
With Bautista able to manage P10 after his charge through the field, and Razgatlioglu claiming a maximum 25-point haul for his win, the gap between the pair has reduced from 74 points to 55 with 11 races remaining in the 2023 season. Although there’s not long left in the season and with time running out for the #54 to overhaul his rival, Razgatlioglu has set out his position as he looks to end his Yamaha stint with a second title.
Reflecting on his win and the title fight, Razgatlioglu said: “I’m happy to win again at Magny-Cours as it is one of my favourite tracks! We won like last year and, in the same way by fighting with Michael! Anyway, a big thanks to the team as they were working really well this weekend and we made a step. It’s not enough to just be good when braking, we need more power on the exit of the corner, especially from the slow ones. Everyone knows the Ducati is so good on the straights, but we’ll keep fighting! I saw Alvaro had some technical problems; I’m not thinking about the Championship, I’m focused race by race as I need to win. I forget about the Championship. We have two more races on Sunday. I’m more relaxed than Alvaro because I’m not thinking in the Championship. If we win every race, we’re World Champions. In 2021, that was how I thought and it’s how I still think. We’ll just try to enjoy every race.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com