Nicolo Bulega closed out the season with a Jerez treble, but Toprak Razgatlioglu’s third-place finish was enough to clinch his third WorldSBK title.
The Italian dominated the race from start to finish, while Razgatlioglu charged from 10th to third to end his WorldSBK career as the fourth rider after Troy Bayliss, Carl Fogarty and Jonathan Rea to win three or more titles.
Pole sitter Bulega didn’t get the best start as team-mate Alvaro Bautista and Honda rider Vierge overtook the Italian into Turn 1.
Bulega soon dispatched Vierge into Turn 6, before reclaiming the lead at the same corner one lap later.
Razgatlioglu had an incredible start from 10th on the grid, overtaking three riders in the first lap to claim seventh place.
The Turkish rider passed Andrea Iannone into Turn 6 to take sixth place, taking a measured approach considering all he had to do to win the title was to finish inside the top 13.
Unsurprisingly, Bulega shot off into the distance and built a 0.8s advantage by the end of Lap 3, with his title rival all over the rear of Bimota’s Alex Lowes.
He claimed fifth place in Turn 1 as his eyes were then set on Honda’s Vierge and Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli, who enjoyed a fun battle for third place.
Locatelli made a successful pass before Razgatlioglu followed through on Vierge on Lap 6, promoting himself up to fourth place.
Out front, Bulega extended his lead to a comfortable 3.3 seconds, making a win for Razgatlioglu look unlikely in the early stages.
But the Turkish rider remained calm and chose not to override his BMW machine, as his methodical approach kept him behind Locatelli’s Pata Maxus Yamaha.
At the halfway mark, Razgatlioglu put himself into the podium spots after outbraking Locatelli into Turn 6.
Yamaha rider Locatelli lost more ground as Vierge overtook his future team-mate for fourth place.
The second half of the race proved to be the leading trio managing tyres and holding station, but Bautista took a notable second chunk out of Bulega’s lead.
Bulega crossed the line to end the season with the treble, but he ultimately lost the title by 13 points.
Bautista finished in second place to secure a factory Ducati 1-2, with the 40-year-old wrapping up the season in third place in the standings.
Razgatlioglu’s third position matched his championship title-winning tally, winning back-to-back WorldSBK titles for the first time.
Locatelli reclaimed fourth spot in a photo finish with Vierge, closely followed by Bimota’s Alex Lowes.
Andrea Iannone rounded off his GoEleven chapter with seventh place, as Tarran Mackenzie and Iker Lecuona posted their best results of the weekend.
Axel Bassani rounded off the top 10 for Bimota, overtaking Yamaha’s Remy Gardner and Ryan Vickers in the closing stages.
Michael van der Mark finished 13th on his final race for BMW, defeating Yari Montella and Bahattin Sofuoglu, who claimed the final points scoring positions.
Rea’s record-breaking WorldSBK career came to an unfortunate end in the garage, as he was declared unfit before the final race began.
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