There was a lot of curiosity surrounding the debut of World Superbike at Balaton, waiting to then pass the baton to MotoGP at the end of August. Doubts and perplexities were not lacking either, increased among other things by the very strong risk of rain with wind and thunderstorms that, in the end, failed to materialize.
The common denominator was safety, which came under the magnifying glass as early as Saturday afternoon with a ten-pin bowling strike for as many as seven riders, three of them ending up in the hospital. However, it was Toprak Razgatlioglu, the undisputed protagonist of the Hungarian round, who was able to put together yet another hat trick of wins.
Joy for him, a little less so for Bulega, who sees his title race becoming a bit of an uphill struggle.
THE GOOD - For them, it will be a well-deserved carefree vacation. We are talking about Toprak Razgatlioglu and Stefano Manzi, undisputed protagonists of the Balaton round in SBK and SSP. The Turk scored a masterful hat trick, making the points breakaway, while the Romagna rider responded to the Donington weekend in fine style, launching the final sprint to the title race. Happy vacations, guys!
THE BAD - Most likely he will have already gone and sprinkled his head with ashes. We are talking about Andrea Iannone, who on Saturday triggered a crash in which as many as seven riders ended up on the ground, three of them in the Hospital. Luckily, the day before, The Maniac had advised all his colleagues to turn on their brains. As they say: preach well, practice badly!
THE UGLY - We wouldn't like to be in the shoes of poor Iker Lecuona, who should have been on a flight to Japan in these hours, but instead is in Spain having to figure out when he's going to go under the knife. In Saturday's crash Iker suffered a wrist injury while Gerloff suffered a lower back injury. Also adding to the list is Gardner, who ended the weekend early.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT - While Toprak was flying around the Balaton track, there was a Michael van der Mark who has to be given a real push forward. It was a nightmarish weekend for the Dutchman, who represents the downside of BMW. In all three races he never once managed to break into the top ten.
THE CONFIRMATION - We'll leave the anger aside, because he has already done it himself to slam against Iannone. Despite the difficulties Danilo Petrucci is always there and even if he did not get on the podium, he is always there third in the Championship. What can we say: hats off!
THE MISTAKE - 12 points lost because of a tyre, just like that! While Toprak chose the slick, Nicolò Bulega relied on the intermediate, beginning what for him was a real ordeal in Sunday's Superpole Race. The choice presented a hefty bill to pay.
THE SURPRISE - We are beginning to like this Sam Lowes more and more and at Balaton he had his best weekend since he has been in SBK, even picking up two podiums! Let's hear it for Marina and the entire Marc VDS team!
THE OVERTAKE - We lost count for how many we saw on Sunday morning in the Superpole Race. We therefore leave it to you to choose the best one!
THE CURIOSITY - Superbike celebrated 1,000 races on Sunday morning at Balaton! A historic milestone for the production-based racing championship, whose adventure began in 1988 at Donington with Davide Tardozzi's triumph.
I TOLD YOU SO - Iannone on Friday before Race 1: "I hope the others don't switch off their brains for the first five laps." Prophetic...