The battle to three of World Superbike moves up to Estorilhost of the third weekend of the spin-offs of the series. Álvaro Bautista is the leader, with an 18-point lead on Jonathan Rhea Y 45 on Toprak Razgatlioglu. Precisely these last two have recently added zero in the second race in Assen after a crash for which they blamed each other. The Spaniard managed to avoid the incident, prevail and take the third victory of the year. They accumulate the Kawasakiwhile that of yamaha He has not yet been able to release his locker in the defense of the title.
With these precedents, it is precisely Razgatlioglu who has the most emergencies in Estoril. Last year, the year of his coronation, he did not start winning until the third round, in Misano, in which he appeared 35 points behind Rea. “I can’t say that it started as we wanted or as we expected.”, explains Kenan Sofuoglu, manager of the Turk. “We are a bit disappointed. Honestly, we’ve sat down with Toprak and reviewed what we do, what we’ve done, and the path of every part of our life, training, and mindset. I think we were not doing it right and Toprak has decided to make some changes”, he concludes.
The distance in this 2022 with the leader is 10 points higher, with the big difference compared to last year that there is one more guest at the party, Bautista with the Ducati: “The truth is that right now the three of us are at a higher level than the rest, whether it’s for driving, confidence, safety… But the three of us are risking victory. It’s a very nice championship”, explained the Spaniard after the Assen round.
As for the rest of the riders, of the second runners-up of the three favorites, only locatelli (Yamaha) has stepped on the drawer, a place who visited Lecuona in Assen and hopes to repeat in Estoril. His partner in the official Honda, Xavi Vierge, He aspires to be able to compete 100% after playing the first two rounds of the year weighed down by fractured ribs at the end of the preseason.