2025 Estoril WorldSBK Race 1 Results: Toprak Razgatlioglu wins amid red-flagged start

Toprak Razgatlioglu triumphed over his championship rival Nicolo Bulega as Alvaro Bautista secured the final podium spot in a race marked by a dramatic opening lap incident – Full 2025 Estoril WorldSBK Race 1 Results.

As the race initially began, tragedy struck almost immediately at Turn 1 after Axel Bassani lost the front of his Bimota Kawasaki, causing a massive pile-up that brought down several riders including Tetsuta Nagashima, Bahattin Sofuoglu, Michael van der Mark, and severely impacting Tarran Mackenzie.

Fortunately, all riders walked away without serious injury though Sofuoglu’s race ended prematurely due to a technical issue shortly after.

The severity of the Estoril crash triggered a red-flag before the completion of Lap 1, halting the race for a full restart over a planned 20-lap distance.

When the race was restarted, the atmosphere was electric as Alvaro Bautista made an aggressive start from third on the grid, lunging into the lead by Turn 1.

Bautista’s Ducati teammate Nicolo Bulega effectively secured second place off the line, while reigning WorldSBK Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu slipped down to fifth.

Demonstrating his trademark resilience, Razgatlioglu swiftly weaved through the pack, overtaking the Pata Maxus Yamaha riders Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli to reach third place by the end of lap one.

On Lap 2, Razgatlioglu executed a brilliant move around Turn 8 to pass Bulega and claim second before setting his sights on Bautista whom he outbraked on Lap 3 at Turn 1 to seize the race lead, establishing a clear driving rhythm at the front.

Bulega later reclaimed second on the same lap with an overtake past Bautista at Turn 6, setting up a compelling intra-team battle for the top spots.

Meanwhile, the factory Yamaha duo of Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli were locked in pursuit of Bautista, occupying fourth and fifth positions respectively.

While the Ducatis had the power advantage on the long start-finish straight, Yamaha’s consistency throughout the laps kept the pressure on.

However, Iker Lecuona crashed out on Lap 4 at Turn 3 during his return to racing after injury, further highlighting the challenging nature of the Estoril circuit.

Ahead, Razgatlioglu was beginning to carve out a lead, extending it to 1.9 seconds by Lap 7. Bulega held a steady gap of 2.3 seconds over Bautista who was struggling slightly with pressure from Rea and later from Bimota’s Alex Lowes.

Rea made a minor mistake at Turn 1 on Lap 14 allowing Lowes and Locatelli to overtake him on the next lap, pushing the six-time champion back to sixth.

Meanwhile, Bulega had started gaining ground on Razgatlioglu, halving the gap to 0.6 seconds by lap 14. However, the championship leader increased his pace and extended the gap to 1.9s again all the way to the checkered flag.

This marked Razgatlioglu’s 20th victory of the season, further solidifying his lead in the championship standings, now 41 points ahead of Bulega with only 99 points left to contest.

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Behind the battle for first and second, Bautista managed to fend off pressure despite a slight error on lap 12, finishing third, more than 13 seconds behind the leaders.

Fourth place went to Locatelli who made remarkable progress from eighth on the grid, with Lowes showing impressive pace to secure fifth.

Rea held onto sixth, defending from Honda’s Xavi Vierge in seventh and Andrea Iannone from Team Pata GoEleven in eighth, while Remy Gardner and Garrett Gerloff rounded out the top 10.

Full 2025 Estoril WorldSBK Race 1 Results

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