The World Superbike season is beginning to draw to a close. In fact, the Estoril track is preparing to host this weekend the penultimate Round of the year (HERE the TV schedules). An appointment that could prove to be decisive for the outcome of the championship, since Toprak Razgatlioglu will have in Race 2 the first match point, with which to become World Champion for the second time.
Back in action in Aragon for the first time since the injury suffered at Magny-Cours, the leader of the world championship standings has taken to 39 points the gap between himself and Nicolò Bulega and 81 with Bautista and will have to make sure to extend to 62 points his lead over the rookie from Emilia at the end of the weekend, while losing a maximum of 19 to the Spaniard, to be crowned champion by the math with one round remaining.
Bulega and Bautista ready to challenge Toprak.
It's a goal that the Turkish ace will try to achieve by aiming for a hat-trick on a track where he has already taken two career victories in 2020 and where he has never been off the podium in the nine races held so far. However, Toprak will have to reckon with the two Aruba.it Racing - Ducati team riders, who are ready to postpone his celebrations until the Final Round in Jerez.
Despite racing at Estoril for the first time on the Panigale V4, Bulega already had the opportunity to discover the Portuguese circuit in 2022 in World Supersport, grabbing a third place in Race 1, and he will certainly aspire to repeat a similar result this weekend. More of a threat for Razgatlioglu, at least on paper, however, is the experienced Bautista. In a season finale in crescendo, Alvaro seems to have finally regained the feeling and mastery he had on the bike last season, and at Estoril he has already secured a sprint victory in 2022, just ahead of the BMW rider. Who at the time was on a Yamaha.
Petrucci prepares to close the games among the Independents
This weekend it will also be paramount to keep a special eye on Danilo Petrucci. In addition to having experienced the Portuguese track in the August test, the three-time winner at Cremona will be going all out for revenge after being left off the podium at Aragon. Driven by an extra motivation, namely the chance to win the titles for Team and Independent Riders with Barni. This can be realized if he makes sure to have at least a 99-point margin over Go Eleven at the end of Race 1 and 62 over Andrea Iannone at the end of the weekend.
It will be interesting to see what the level of the Abruzzo rider can be on the Estoril circuit, where he last raced in 2011 and where he arrives in the wake of the win and two fourth places obtained two weeks ago in Spain. Also stoked will be Garrett Gerloff, author of two podiums and three other Top 5 finishes in the last nine races.
Fond memories for Rea at Estoril.
Instead, signs of recovery are expected from Yamaha, which is struggling in these last few championship outings. It has been a particularly difficult year especially for Jonathan Rea, who, although he is probably still not at his best after the operation on his injured thumb in France, will try if nothing else to get back into the Top 10 at Estoril. A track where in the past he has always done well with Kawasaki, so much so that he won the last two rounds in 2022.
Remaining with the Iwata manufacturer, we must not forget the debut on the R1 of Luca Bernardi, wildcard with Motoxracing, and the probable return of Dominique Aegerter on the sister bike of the GRT team. As well as Adam Norrodin and twins Alex and Sam Lowes, the Swiss is in fact ready to leave the infirmary and will undergo pre-Round medical checks, with the hope of being declared fit to participate in this penultimate round of the season.