Tracklimits penalty costs Yamaha farewell race victory: Toprak Razgatlioglu angry that his efforts went unrewarded
The 2023 World Superbike Championship season came to an end with an absolute thriller. In the final race of the race weekend in Jerez, Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) dueled for victory for several laps (see race report). Razgatlioglu crossed the finish line 0.032 seconds ahead of Bautista, but lost the victory because he drove over the curbs in the finish bend. The race organizers awarded a one-position penalty.
“I finished first. I’m happy about that,” notes Razgatlioglu, describing the scene. “I came onto the green and violated the track limits. But I didn’t feel that because the bike was sliding. I probably slid onto the green due to the slide.”
“It didn’t give me any advantage,” explained Razgatlioglu, who accepted the penalty, however: “Rules are rules. I wanted to get a good result on my final day with Yamaha. I had to try because I wanted to create a nice memory of my final race with Yamaha with a win.”
“I am a bit sad, but I did a very good job. I gave more than 100 percent, just like in Portimao,” Razgatlioglu is satisfied with his race. The Turk rode for Yamaha for four years from 2020 to 2023, securing 100 podiums and 37 WSBK race wins, as well as the 2021 World Championship title.
The Yamaha chapter began for Razgatlioglu with a victory at the 2020 season opener. He would have liked to close his Yamaha era with a final victory. “I’m disappointed because that was our last race together after four years. Maybe we will work together again in the future,” notes the ex-champion, who will have his first test with BMW in December.
Three wins at season finale: Alvaro Bautista also unbeaten in Jerez
Alvaro Bautista enjoyed a near perfect weekend at the season finale in Jerez. This season, the Spaniard has been the dominant rider with 27 race wins from 36 races. “It has been a really good season. But it wasn’t perfect because we made some mistakes,” he summed up soberly.
The race 2 victory goes to @19Bautista as @toprak_tr54 drops 1 position for exceeding track limits on the final lap ESPWorldSBK pic. twitter.com/IWKP0NTrwL
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 29, 2023
“I’m pleased that I was able to win all three races at the finale here in Jerez. The duel with Toprak in the second race was fantastic. We overtook each other so many times. All the maneuvers were really aggressive. But we were pretty fair with each other. I enjoyed this race even more than the one in Portimao,” comments the Ducati rider.
The many overtaking maneuvers provided good entertainment and Bautista also enjoyed the duel with Razgatlioglu. “I wanted to overtake him everywhere, but he also wanted to overtake me. It was the best possible end to the season,” Bautista said happily.
Once again, Bautista was the rider who secured the wins for Ducati. “Yamaha is always very strong here. They were on the podium in all three races here. I’m happy that we were also pretty strong here and were able to fight with Toprak. He is at the peak of his career,” he notes.
The 2023 WSBK season is over, but Alvaro Bautista still has something to come
The 2023 WSBK season is history. But for Bautista the year is not over yet. This week he is testing for 2024 and after that it’s off to Sepang (Malaysia). “Our season is over, but it will be followed by the first day of testing for 2024 on Tuesday. We will celebrate a bit, but not too much, because we have to start working for next year,” Bautista said.
“Then my MotoGP wildcard at Sepang is on the schedule. I’m looking forward to this race because it will be like a bonus for the season that has passed. I want to enjoy riding and hope I can build up the same feeling I had for my superbike. I just want to have fun,” said the Superbike World Champion, looking forward to the guest start in MotoGP.
