Toprak Razgatlioglu will take a 46-point lead into the final round of the World Superbike Championship after winning race two in Estoril on Sunday.
Following his race one victory on Saturday, the Turkish rider was edged out by his only remaining title rival Nicolo Bulega in the tightest finish in World Superbikes history as the Italian Ducati rider clinched a superpole triumph by 0.003 seconds.
However, BMW’s Razgatlioglu was back to his dominant best in race two as he recovered from being only fifth early on to finish well ahead of Ducati’s Bulega and last year’s champion Alvaro Bautista.
With a maximum 62 points available in next weekend’s final round Jerez, the 27-year-old looks odds on to add to his previous title triumph in 2021.
Northern Ireland’s six-time champion Jonathan Rea was fourth to produce his best long-race performance of this season after finishing a lowly 22nd in the earlier superpole race following a slide on lap five.
Bautista led for nearly a third of race two but was passed by Razgatlioglu on lap seven and then dropped to third two laps later as his Ducati team-mate Bulega moved into second spot.
Andrea Locatelli and Iker Lecuona both slid off in different mishaps which left Rea on his own in fourth place as Michael van der Mark and Xavi Vierge completed the top-six positions.
Razgatlioglu took victory in race one ahead of Bulega when third-placed Iker Lecuona gave Honda their first podium finish of 2024.
The Turkish rider’s title lead is even more impressive given that he missed last month’s two rounds in France and Italy after suffering a collapsed lung in a practice crash at Magny-Cours.
