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 in round six of the World Superbike Championship at Misano in Italy.

Turkish rider 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 over a second at the chequered flag.

It was a seventh individual race win of the season for Razgatlioglu, who reduced his Ducati rival's lead from 31 points to 26 in the championship standings.

It was revealed earlier this week the 28-year-old will 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, with the Italian claiming that place for the fourth consecutive race.

Petrucci was 16.68 seconds adrift of Bulega and sits third in the series going into Sunday's Superpole race and Race Two.

Six-time world champion Rea, who missed the opening three rounds with injury, was 33 seconds behind the winner and now has 13 points to lie 18th in the standings.