Razgatlioglu: “The championship is not finished”, Bautista admits to “mistake”

Razgatlioglu, who started from pole for a third consecutive time, was passed by both Andrea Locatelli and Bautista before seeing the latter crash out at turn three.

Bulletproof for most of the season, Bautista’s mistake meant a potential race win was handed to Razgatlioglu before a lengthy battle with Axel Bassani took place. 

• Imola World Superbike Superpole Race Results: Toprak Razgatlioglu stuns Alvaro Bautista 
• Imola World Superbike Race (2) Results: Razgatlioglu wins as Bautista crashes

The Motocorsa Ducati rider began to challenge Razgatlioglu ahead of overtaking him with eight laps remaining, but after sitting in behind the Italian, Razgatlioglu made his race-winning move at turn 18 with four to go.

"Today I’m very happy," said Razgatlioglu in parc ferme. "Sorry for Bautista. I saw him crash and just did my plan. 

"My plan worked well. In the last three laps I passed Axel. I’m very happy because this season I have been waiting for a long race win every time. The championship is not finished."

For Bautista, his mistake on lap one was a rare blunder on what has been the best 21 races from any rider to begin a Superbike campaign.

After winning Race 1, Bautista was the favourite to repeat that feat despite the distance being reduced from 19 to 15 laps.

But Bautista instead saw his race end after losing the front at turn three, which led to him joking post-race. 

"We decided to make the race shorter in the morning but I did even shorter in the afternoon, just three corners [laughs]," the Spaniard told WorldSBK.com. "Joking aside, I made a mistake because I did a good start and had a good line, but in turn three I touched the white line on the inside. 

"In other laps I touched [the white line] without problem but the first lap the tyre was maybe not 100%. I made a mistake. 

"Next time I have to be more careful. It’s a pity because we were quite competitive this weekend. 

"Yesterday, we were quite strong fighting for the victory and this morning’s race we had a really nice battle with Toprak. I felt like this weekend was stronger than I expected it to be."