Toprak Razgatlioglu reigned supreme in a tense ten-lap battle with Alvaro Bautista to make it back-to-back WSBK wins in Portugal this weekend.
The Turk flew down into Turn 1, overtaking Jonathan Rea to lead the opening lap. Meanwhile, Bautista had worked his way into third and then swept past Rea and Razgatlioglu at the end of the main straight on lap two. But at Turn 5, Razgatlioglu snatched back the lead under braking.
Halfway through, Bautista was putting immense pressure on Razgatlioglu while Rea clocked the fastest lap back in third place. The trio began to pull ahead of the pursuing Alex Lowes, who could only hope to lead the best of the rest.
Bautista used his superior Ducati power to haul ahead of his rival on the main straight three times, but on each occasion, Razgatlioglu would beat him on the brakes down into Turn 1.
Further down the field, Garrett Gerloff suffered a nasty tumble off his Kawasaki and while the American hobbled away from the incident, he was sent to the medical centre for a checkup.
Razgatlioglu, Bautista and Rea remained nigh inseparable on the last lap, but the Yamaha rider would hang on for a narrow victory.
SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK 10 Laps
2 Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +0.123s
3 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +1.434s
4 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +1.976s
5 Michael Rinaldi ITA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +3.965s
6 Axel Bassani ITA Motocorsa Ducati +5.969s
7 Andrea Locatelli ITA PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +6.067s
8 Michael Van Der Mark SPA BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +11.297s
9 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW +11.945s
10 Xavi Vierge SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +12.014s
11 Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati +12.692s
12 Iker Lecuona SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +12.937s
13 Scott Redding GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +15.165s
14 Lucas Mahias FRA Puccetti Kawasaki +18.996s
15 Eugene Laverty IRL Bonovo Action BMW +20.677s
16 Jake Gagne USA Fresh N Lean Attack Yamaha +20.816s
17 Marvin Fritz GER YART Yamaha +24.172s
18 Luca Bernardi SM Barni Spark Ducati Team +24.575s
19 Leon Haslam GBR Pedercini Kawasaki +25.909s
20 Kohta Nozane JPN GRT Yamaha +26.206s
21 Leandro Mercado ARG MIE Honda Racing +26.421s
22 Christophe Ponsson FRA Gil Motor Sport Yamaha +27.390s
23 Hafizh Syahrin MAL MIE Honda Racing +29.711s
24 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac Racing Kawasaki +45.459s
25 Garrett Gerloff USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team DNF
26 Roberto Tamburini ITA Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team DNF