The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship descended on the iconic Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in August for a sunset showdown as the second half of an unforgettable 2024 season got underway, and it was a Portuguese round that beat records. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed his fourth consecutive hat-trick by claiming his 13th victory in a row, while we glimpsed the battle we were waiting for against Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), until that #1 falls at turn 5 of race 2. Relive the action from races 1 and 2 HERE as well as the summary of the Tissot Race Superpole for free on YouTube – and don’t forget to subscribe to see more!
RAZGATLIOGLU TAKES HEIGHT: an unforgettable FP2 jump
“El Turco” has made a habit of jumping over the crest between turns 8 and 9 in recent years, and 2024 was no exception. It didn’t happen after Friday’s session for several reasons, but on Saturday, at the end of Free Practice 3, Razgatlioglu performed his iconic jump. He took the BMW to new heights – both metaphorically and literally – starting the weekend in style.
RAZGATLIOGLU BREAKING A RECORD: 13 consecutive victories…!
The now two-time World Champion traveled to Portimao to make history, having won the previous 10 races in a row, from Race 2 at Assen to Race 2 at Most. Portimao, a track where the Turkish star missed out on victory last year by the narrowest of margins, was the perfect place for him to redeem himself and make history, and he did it as it should be . In Race 1, he won his 11th consecutive race to equal the record held by Bautista and Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), who had established it with Kawasaki. Before beating him on Sunday with a victory in the Superpole Race and Race 2.
BAUTISTA’S DIFFICULT 2024 SEASON CONTINUES: No. 1 falls in fight with Razgatlioglu
Bautista had had a difficult 2024 so far, but he looked closer to his best in recent rounds, despite a blank result on Sunday at Most the previous weekend. He finished sixth in Superpole – his second best result in the first seven events – and finished second and sixth in Race 1 and the Superpole Race. In Race 2, he was able to get close to the rear of Razgatlioglu’s BMW machine and the two were side by side at one point. Bautista took the inside line into the left of Turn 4, but his rival fought back in the short passage leading to Turn 5. As Bautista tried to follow Razgatlioglu, he lost the front of his Panigale V4 R and crashed into the pin. He came back and finished the race, but his chances of victory and points disappeared.
2025 APPROACH: prepare for the next season by rewatching the epic moments of 2024 with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
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