Races results are always the priority, and that was certainly the case for Razgatlıoğlu after a less-than-perfect Superpole qualifying saw him start from the second row of the grid in P4 at his favourite circuit.
The slight disadvantage was quickly nullified as the team’s Turkish ace deployed his signature “hard braking” style into the Adelaide Hairpin (Turn 5) and made further decisive moves through the Complexe du Lycee (Turn 15 and the final chicane of Turns 16 and 17). Hitting the front on Lap 2, Razgatlıoğlu was challenged by Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) until a technical issue for the Spaniard removed him from podium contention. The second Ducati of Michael Ruben Rinaldi then took a run at Razgatlıoğlu, treating the French crowd to a game of cat and mouse for the win.
The #54 settled in behind Rinaldi from Lap 5 to 12 until he saw the Italian start to struggle with grip in the second half of the race. The two battled hard through Laps 12-14 until Razgatlıoğlu forced Rinaldi into a mistake at Turn 11 to take a decisive victory.
Teammate Locatelli was caught up in a messy Superpole session and accepted a penalty to start from P10 on the grid – where it was difficult for him to make initial progress forward in the opening laps. But by Lap 7, the #55 Yamaha WorldSBK rider had overtaken the two BMWs of Scott Redding and Loris Baz into sixth position. A thrilling fight with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Ducati) kept fans on the edge of their seats in the latter part of the race – and despite losing out after some aggressive passes from both riders, “Loka” held on to finish sixth at the chequered flag, passing Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) on the penultimate lap.
Tomorrow is the final day in France with plenty more points on offer during the Superpole Race at 11:00 CEST and Race 2 at the later time of 15:15, not before a short 15-minute Warm-Up at 9:00.
FULL RESULTS - WorldSBK - FREE PRACTICE 3
