BMW star seals a perfect weekend in Portugal, but Bulega maintains healthy points lead
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had their now-customary mano-a-mano fight at Portimão for ten laps — until a red flag was thrown after Jason O’Halloran (Pata Maxx Yamaha) crashed at Turn 1, raising concerns about the condition of the track. Jason was deemed okay and made his own way back to the pit box.
A quick race restart at 14:30, over 11 laps only, ended up being run as the stand-alone Race Two, with full points awarded.
The riders lined up on the final grid of the weekend based on where they were ranked after their last completed timed sector in the red-flagged race.
Bulega pushed hard to take the immediate lead, even though Razgatlioglu set an early fastest lap. A mistake from the Ducati rider with five laps to go seemed to open the door for the BMW rider, but Bulega composed himself and maintained his advantage — for a time.
Razgatlioglu would make a decisive pass, and when Bulega ran just slightly wide into the first corner on the final lap, Toprak held on to the lead, winning by a relatively large 0.195 seconds.
Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) finished third, 3.5 seconds behind the winner, with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxx Yamaha) winning the fight for fourth place ahead of the improving Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) gave his all to keep the new Bimota of Axel Bassani (Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) behind him. Petrucci finished sixth, and Bassani recorded a season-best seventh place.
Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) took a redemptive eighth place, followed by Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in ninth and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) in tenth.
In the championship standings after six races, Bulega leads with 111 points. Razgatlioglu follows with 82, Petrucci has 60, and Bautista sits on 59.
WORLDSBK PORTIMAO RACE 2
| Position | Rider | Bike | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | T. Razgatlioglu | BMW | - |
| 2 | N. Bulega | Ducati | 0.195 |
| 3 | A. Bautista | Ducati | 3.512 |
| 4 | A. Locatelli | Yamaha | 6.617 |
| 5 | M. van der Mark | BMW | 7.478 |
| 6 | D. Petrucci | Ducati | 10.155 |
| 7 | A. Bassani | Bimota | 10.25 |
| 8 | I. Lecuona | Honda | 11.731 |
| 9 | D. Aegerter | Yamaha | 12.64 |
| 10 | Y. Montella | Ducati | 13.268 |
| 11 | S. Lowes | Ducati | 13.483 |
| 12 | G. Gerloff | Kawasaki | 17.077 |
| 13 | B. Sofuoglu | Yamaha | 19.871 |
| 14 | R. Vickers | Ducati | 22.128 |
| 15 | S. Redding | Ducati | 25.059 |
| 16 | Z. Zaidi | Honda | 54.491 |
| 17 | T. Mackenzie | Honda | 01:18.9 |
| — | R. Gardner | Yamaha | RET |
| — | A. Iannone | Ducati | RET |
| — | A. Lowes | Bimota | RET |
WORLDSBK CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
| Position | Rider | Nat. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | N. Bulega | ITA | 111 |
| 2 | T. Razgatlioglu | TUR | 82 |
| 3 | D. Petrucci | ITA | 60 |
| 4 | A. Bautista | ESP | 59 |
| 5 | A. Locatelli | ITA | 56 |
| 6 | A. Iannone | ITA | 44 |
| 7 | S. Redding | GBR | 31 |
| 8 | S. Lowes | GBR | 30 |
| 9 | A. Bassani | ITA | 30 |
| 10 | M. van der Mark | NED | 26 |
