This time Toprak had to sweat it out. Giving him a hard time was a great Danilo Petrucci who was in the lead for a long time and responded with great determination to the attacks of the Turk.
Compared to last season, the situation has reversed, and today it was BMW that overtook Ducati on the long straight in front of the pits, with the rider from Terni then repeating his lead in the subsequent corners.
On lap 13, however, Razgatlioglu left no chance to the private Ducati of Team Spark Barni Racing, and took a lead that Petrucci and Bautista, who in the meantime had caught up with Danilo after a race full of comebacks (he was twelfth at the end of the first lap), were no longer able to fill. In the end, the BMW tightrope walker won with just eight tenths of an advantage over Bautista, who with two laps to go had the better of his brand teammate, who had to deal with his ailing right shoulder.
For Toprak, this is his thirteenth win of the season, his eleventh in a row. If he were to win the Superpole race tomorrow, he would surpass the record he currently shares with Rea and Bautista. His lead in the standings over Bulega has now risen to 80 points, while his lead over Bautista is 109 points.
Garrett Gerloff’s fourth place with the private BMW Bonovo was exceptional. The American was always close to the leaders and in the end he managed to get the better of Alex Lowes, Michael Van der Mark and the feverish Nicolò Bulega.
The English Kawasaki rider took off like a rocket as soon as the lights went out and remained in the lead for the first four laps, but once he saw himself overtaken he slowed his pace until he finished fifth, behind the surprising private BMW rider.
Michael Van der Mark also had a great race, occupying third position before being absorbed by the chasing group, and then finishing his race in sixth position, ahead of Bulega. The Italian from Team Aruba has never been in contention for the podium and evidently, in addition to his precarious physical condition (flu), this result was also influenced by having missed the first free practice session due to a technical problem that affected his V4.
A good eighth place for Axel Bassani, ahead of the three Yamahas of Dominique Aegerter, Remy Gardner and Andrea Locatelli, author of an anonymous race.
Jonathan Rea did worse than him, dropping from sixth place in the opening laps to fifteenth place, evidently afflicted by set-up and tyre problems.
The two Hondas of Lecuona and Vierge finished in twelfth and thirteenth position respectively, ahead of a positive Tito Rabat, with Puccetti’s Kawasaki. Michael Ruben Rinaldi, only sixteenth, and Andrea Iannone did not collect any points, the latter unfortunately confirming a rather disappointing weekend up to now with a fall during the twelfth lap.
