Round 4 of the FIM Europe Superstock 600cc Championship was decided in favour of after a race long dual saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) defeat at the last moment wildcard entry Roberto Mercandelli (Roberto Mercandelli Team) to victory by 4 seconds at the conclusion of an epic 12 lap encounter.
The Turk who extends his lead in the series after his fourth victory of the year, set a new lap record as he gave chase to Federico Caricasulo (Pata Honda Junior Team), the Italian crashing out on the final lap after swapping places several times with Toprak.
Mercandelli benefited from the mistake to grab 2nd ahead of fellow Italian Andrea Tucci (San Carlo Team Italia) who took the final place on the podium at the end of an action packed race.
Nicola Morrentino jr, Stefano Casalotti and Luca Vitali completed the top six.
The unfortunate Michael Ruben Rinaldi had been running strongly until he collided with the back of Razgatlioglu’s Kawasaki. With nowhere to go, the Italian fell from 2nd position. He remounted but retired a lap later.
Niki Tuuli was lucky to escape injury after sliding out of 3rd on lap two. The Finnish rider will have to wait until the next round to show his true potential.
In the championship, Razgatlioglu now holds a commanding 55 point advantage over his nearest rival meaning he could mathematically wrap up the title at the next round in Portimao on 6th June.
