Toprak Razgatlioğlu is on the verge of winning his second title in the Superbike World Cup. The Turkish driver had the opportunity to sing the praises last weekend in Estoril. He didn't succeed, but the truth is that increased its lead before the Jerez event, which will close the 2024 championship in the coming days (from October 18 to 20, since it is a double of consecutive races).
The BMW driver had win a qualifying Race 1 in Portugal, ahead of his main rival, Nicolô Bulega. During the Superpole race on Sunday, he fought until the last lap with the Italian, but ended up falling by 3 thousandths.in the closest finish in WorldSBK history. And in the second long round, he once again beat his rival from Ducati Aruba.it.
Thus, with 62 points at stake for the event in Spain, Razgatlioglu will arrive with 473, and a lead of 46 over Bulega (427). The Turkish driver's story is simple: he will be champion on Saturday if he finishes Race 1 in Jerez with a 37-point lead.. In other words, you can lose up to 9 points with the transalpine.
Toprak's final victory is not certain, but almost, since he would have to commit a disaster at Jerez to lose the crown. And this circumstance does not put pressure on Antalya, but on the contrary reassures him, even if he is on the verge of winning his second title after winning the first in 2021.and in a historic first year with the M 1000 RR, in which he achieved the record for consecutive victories and in which He also missed two rounds (France and Cremona) due to injury.
“Everyone is expecting a very stressful weekend in Jerez. I'm relaxed, because I have a lot of advantages. I will try to take advantage of it“, began #54 after the Estoril weekend on the official WSBK website. “In 2021, I remember the championship was decided in the last test. This year it’s the same.”
“Before I got injured, I thought I would be champion with three rounds remaining. After the fall of Magny-Cours, everything changed. I try to deal with it, but sometimes it's not easy. MotorLand Aragón was very difficult, but I did a good job. Here, I needed three victories, but I lost the Superpole Race. I don't stress, because I have a very good difference. I just need a good position. I don't need to win again“, he continued.
Speaking about the weekend's races, Toprak had a thorn in his side about the short race: “I'm very happy, especially with Race 2. The Superpole race was a disaster because I had incredible pace, but ultimately lost. I focused on Race 2, because I needed to win again, because there were more points at stake. It's a great victory for the championship,” he explained.
On the other hand, his rival for the title, Bulega, was proud to have led the fight for the general classification until the last event and against a rival of such stature: “It's very difficult but, for me, to be here now is an incredible result, to be able to say that I am still fighting for the championship in the last round of my first year. It's something incredible and unexpected. I am very happy and proud of what I have doneand what my team did for me throughout the season,” he concluded.
