Rea 12th as Razgatlioglu wins Misano Superbike opener

Northern Ireland's Jonathan Rea finished 12th as Toprak Razgatlioglu won the opening race of the weekend at round six of the World Superbike Championship at Misano in Italy on Saturday.

Razgatlioglu battled it out at the front throughout with series leader and early pacesetter Nicolo Bulega, with the two-time champion prevailing on his BMW by just one second at the chequered flag.

It was a seventh individual race win of the season for Razgatlioglu, who reduces his arrears to his Ducati rival to 26 points in the championship standings.

It was revealed earlier this week that the Turkish rider would transfer to the MotoGP series in 2026, having signed a deal to ride a Yamaha for Prima Pramac Racing.

Danilo Petrucci overcame England's Alex Lowes in a hotly-contested battle for third spot, the Italian claiming that position for the fourth consecutive time.

Petrucci was 15.5 seconds adrift of Bulega and sits third in the series going into Sunday's Superpole race and Race Two.

Six-time world champion Rea missed the opening three rounds because of injury and has now secured 13 points to lie 18th in the standings.