Toprak Razgatlioglu led from lights-to-flag as he dominated the Misano WorldSBK Superpole race, with title rival Nicolo Bulega crashing out.
Razgatlioglu scored his fourth Superpole race victory of the campaign as he closed the gap in the riders’ standings to 14 points.
Bulega started from pole position and made a good start, with the Bimota of Axel Bassani getting the hole shot to draw level with his compatriot.
Bassani attempted to take the lead but lost it going into Turn 1, making contact with Nicolo Bulega and taking the championship leader out of the race.
Toprak Razgatlioglu went from third to first after benefiting from the crash between the leading duo, with Bassani’s Bimota team-mate Alex Lowes pressuring the Turkish rider in second.
Further down the order, the Honda pair of Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona made contact as a frenetic opening lap drew to a close.
As Razgatlioglu took the advantage out front, the rivalry between Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista resumed after the Northern Irishman gained eight places on the opening two laps.
Two-time World Champion Bautista found his way through on Remy Gardner for fifth, with Rea making contact as he attempted to follow the Spaniard.
The contact with Rea relegated Gardner to eighth as Sam Lowes took advantage, with the British pair duelling throughout the final two laps.
Lecuona and Yari Montella were catching the group ahead with the harder tyre compound, but the Ducati rider lost his bike at the final corner and became the third Italian to retire from his home race.
Sam Lowes managed to use the superior speed of the Ducati to make his way through on six-time champion Rea, as the order remained fixed for the final lap.
At the front, Razgatlioglu completed his domination of the Superpole race by crossing the line 4.621s clear of the next best rider.
Bimota’s Lowes sealed second place after capitalising on his team-mate’s error on the opening lap.
Andrea Locatelli completed the podium in third, six seconds behind race winner Razgatlioglu.
Danilo Petrucci was the top independent rider in fourth, ahead of Bautista in fifth.
MarcVDS’ Lowes scored sixth after prevailing in his battle with Rea, who ultimately crossed the line in seventh.
Remy Gardner took the flag in eighth as the Honda duo of Lecuona and Vierge completed the top 10.
Garrett Gerloff narrowly missed out in 11th ahead of the struggling Michael van der Mark in 12th.
Scott Redding led compatriot Ryan Vickers over the line in 13th and 14th respectively, as Bahattin Sofuoglu rounded out the top 15.
