Toprak Razgatlioglu continued his domination at Magny-Cours as he cruised to the WorldSBK Superpole victory over title rival Nicolo Bulega.
Razgatlioglu stands alone as the rider with the most victories around the French circuit after equalling Jonathan Rea’s tally in Saturday’s Race 1, despite losing the lead on the opening lap.
Nicolo Bulega made the better start of the title rivals and was able to pass polesitter Razgatlioglu into the first corner.
It didn’t take long for Razgatlioglu to come up with a response, as the Turkish rider was later on the brakes than the Italian into Turn 5 and took the lead.
Sam Lowes also looked to pressure Bulega, but the British rider was unable to find a breakthrough and remained in third.
Three laps into the race, Bulega made a major error at Turn 14 and lost positions to both Lowes brothers as he dropped down to fourth.
Razgatlioglu also ran wide at the final chicane, but his advantage out front meant that Lowes on the MarcVDS could not take advantage of the mistake.
As Alex Lowes’ qualifying tyre began to degrade, Bulega used the opportunity to regain one of the positions he lost the lap before as he easily passed the Bimota rider.
The mistakes at the front continued to flow as the British rider in second place ran wide, allowing Bulega and his brother to pass at Turn 12.
The misery continued for Lowes, as he crashed out at Turn 1 while running in fourth place to end a difficult Superpole race.
As battles raged on between riders fighting for the crucial ninth position on the grid, Jonathan Rea was forced to sit up by Andrea Iannone, with the concertina effect causing Alvaro Bautista to crash out of the race.
At the front of the race, Razgatlioglu cruised to Superpole victory to record his 10th win around the Magny Cours circuit.
Bulega had to settle for second after errors littered the Ducati rider’s race, while Alex Lowes completed the podium in third.
Petrucci was once again the top independent rider in fourth, defeating Michael van der Mark who crossed the line in a solid fifth.
Iannone produced a late charge through the field to sixth place, while Axel Bassani crossed the line in seventh but was under investigation for taking a shortcut at Turn 7.
Rea improved to take eighth at the flag, as Xavi Vierge sealed the final points position in ninth ahead of the fading Dominique Aegerter in 10th.
Remy Gardner struggled in the late stages with his degrading qualifying tyres as he came home in 11th, while Locatelli charged from the back of the grid to 12th.
Tarran Mackenzie produced a strong performance in 13th ahead of Garrett Gerloff in 14th, while Bahattin Sofuoglu took 15th over the line.
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