It's all to be redone for Toprak Razgatlioglu. With his success in Race 1, Nicolò Bulega managed to cancel the second match point for the BMW rider, keeping the fight for the title open until tomorrow. Paving the way to victory for the Romagna rider was a mistake made on the first lap by the reigning champion himself, who lost, in the space of one turn, any chance of trying to stay with his rival.
"I lost the trajectory after he slightly touched me in Turn 5. When I tried to recover it, I saw Iannone. I tried to brake later than him in Turn 6 and made a mistake, because the rear of my bike lifted up and didn't stop. Without that mistake, maybe I would have gone away with Nicolò and there would have been some fight between us. I say that because when I managed to pass everyone and pushed to go and catch Bulega, the gap remained the same," Razgatlioglu said.
"Maybe he had a little bit more, but if I had stayed with him I would have had a good reference as far as braking and the line to follow in the corners. I'm faster when I'm with him, but if the gap is more than a second you have no reference and it's not easy to go and catch the person in front of you when you're riding alone," continued the BMW rider, who raises the challenge to tomorrow: "I think tomorrow morning, or maybe in Race 2, we can go away together if I can follow him right away and fight with him. I know he is fast, but we improved slightly today and I have good feelings on the bike. We will have to make progress tomorrow as well, because the traction control started to work strangely after 12 laps and the engine brake is still not perfect. I'm struggling a lot with the bike, but I think the team can improve it for tomorrow and we will be stronger. Maybe not enough to win, but I will try my best again."
Today's was not the ideal situation for the defending champion, who also struggled with the front tyre.
"It's always a problem, because the engine brake doesn't help me and I have to stop the bike on the front tyre. The front moves a lot and I have the feeling of losing it, but I have adapted: I always had to struggle with the front tyre in the last three Rounds - he explained - I noticed that Bulega can ride easily, as if he were on a 600, while I always have to push a lot because of the way my bike works: if I rode like him my bike wouldn't work, because it can't corner. That's the problem. In any case, this is the package I have and I have to make the best of it. This is my goal and I always try to do my best."
Toprak then talked about how he experienced the first few laps behind Iannone.
"He was very slow at the beginning, especially in some sectors. The moment I was behind him at the beginning of the race, and I made the mistake, I tried to brake hard in Turn 6 and my bike didn't stop. After that, I went back to focusing on my race and Bulega. I overtook Iannone, set my pace, pushed on every lap, and saw the gap growing with every passage," he recounted, "I think I had a good race today and, most importantly, I took some good points for the championship. My team also urged me to finish second because we don't need to win, but I only think about that and in the race I always try. Today it wasn't easy to finish in first position, I told myself that the place of honor was enough and I finished second, which was the goal. We'll see tomorrow. If I were to finish in the same position I would win the title, but I think about winning. As strong as Nicolo is, especially in the Superpole Race. As he was last year."
Would the Turkish rider be satisfied even if he were to win his third title by staying off the podium?
"It's better if we don't think about it. I'm only focused on my race and I don't think much about these things. Today was very important for us, I did a good job, and now I only think about the next race," replied the man himself.
With 25 podiums already achieved this year, Razgatlioglu is just one place away from setting a new record for podiums in a single season.
"It would be nice and positive to set a new record before I go to MotoGP. Maybe Bulega could then break the record next year. At least, it seems that way," he commented, "He did an incredible lap in qualifying. I have great respect for him and he is usually always fast here. I expected to see a 1:36.9, because I know him. Then he improved even more and lapped in 1:36.6, which is a very competitive time. I immediately went to Ducati to congratulate him, because it's an incredible lap and I also asked him if he was riding a MotoGP or a Superbike, because mine was a Superbike time, his was a MotoGP time! (smiles, ed.). I congratulated him, it was fantastic!"
Given this amazing finish to the season, Bulega is convinced that the championship would have gone differently without the double technical problem that halted him at Assen.
"For me it was the same at Round 1 in Australia, where I had two really bad races," he noted, "I also had a problem with the tyres at Assen, and I think these episodes also made a big difference."