The WorldSBK Championship concluded its action at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed two wins for the weekend, further extending his championship lead over Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Press Release: WorldSBK.
The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Race 1 at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” was won by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as he claimed a hard-fought victory during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round to extend his Championship lead. Bautista started from pole position but dropped back before battling back to claim victory as he set a race lap record in the closing stages of the race.
Bautista initially lost out at the start but was able to battle back, first to take second place from Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) on Lap 4 before making his move on Rea at the high-speed Curvone corner on Lap 13 to move into the lead of the race and from there did not look back as he claimed victory for Ducati on home soil. In the first two-thirds of the race, it was a three-way battle between Bautista, Rea and Razgatlioglu, as has been customary throughout the 2022 season. However, at the end of Lap 14, Razgatlioglu suffered a technical issue on his machine and retired from the race.
Bautista’s victory, by 5.128s after the 21 laps were completed, gave him his 21st win in WorldSBK which puts him level with Max Biaggi on the all-time list. Rea’s second place gave him his 224th podium and ninth this year as well as Kawasaki’s 498th in WorldSBK; just two shy of the amazing landmark 500 podiums.
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) started Race 1 from tenth place but soon found himself inside the top five after an incredible start by the Italian rider, looking to challenge the lead trio at the time for a podium place. He eventually dropped back and had to battle with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for what would turn out to be a podium position, but Rinaldi was able to make the move for his first podium of the 2022 season and the 11th of his career. Like Kawasaki, Ducati are on the verge of a podium milestone and sit just five away from 1,000 podium placements in WorldSBK. Bassani finished in fourth place as he took his best result of the 2022 season. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) secured fifth place after he battled his way back into a top five finish, finishing ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) who completed the top six with Locatelli just 1.4s back from Lowes.
Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) claimed seventh spot as he withstood the challenge from Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team); the American, once again, putting on a late-race charge to claim eighth spot. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) lost ground at the start of the race but was able to fight his way back to a top ten finish as he claimed ninth spot with Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rounding out the top ten.
Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) claimed his joint-best WorldSBK report with 11th place finishing ahead of Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team). Nozane got a good start and fought his way into the top ten but dropped back as the race progressed before dropping back to 12th. Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) claimed 13th spot after passing teammate Loris Baz in the closing stages, while Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) also passed Baz to finish 14th; Baz claiming 15th.
Replacement rider Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) narrowly missed out on points, finishing less than a second behind Baz, on his comeback to the Championship with 16th place ahead of Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team), Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Leonardo Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura).
Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) was the first retirement from the race after he had a Lap 3 crash at Turn 4, forcing the Frenchman out of the race. Ponsson was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash and declared unfit with a right collar bone fracture and cervical strain. Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) had a crash at Turn 8 on Lap 5 and, while the German was able to re-join the race, he retired a short time later. Italian rider Alessandro Delbianco (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) did not compete in the race. Wildcard Gabriele Ruiu (Bmax Racing) was also a retirement from the race after a crash. The Italian did re-join the race but retired from the race following the incident.
WorldSBK Misano Race One Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +5.128s
3 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +8.289s
Tissot Superpole Race
Razgatlioglu got the holeshot on the opening lap of the race and from there did not look back as he claimed his first race win of the season and secure a front row start for Race 2. He was able to take advantage of an early race scrap between Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) scrapping to open up a gap and was unchallenged throughout the race. Bautista came home in second place ahead of Rea, with the top three in the Championship making up the front row for Race 2.
It meant Razgatlioglu claimed his 19th career win and his 62nd podium, while Bautista now has 38 podiums to his name and 11 consecutive podiums from the start of the season. Rea now has 225 podiums to his name while his third place means Kawasaki now have 499 podiums, just one away from a milestone 500.
Both Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) and teammate Iker Lecuona used Pirelli’s new-for-2022 SCQ tyre to full advantage in the Superpole Race as they fought their way up the field. Vierge finished in fourth after looking like he was going to challenge Rea for a podium, although fourth is his best result in WorldSBK, with Lecuona in fifth place. They will be joined on the second row by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), with the Italian claiming his second sixth-place finish of the round.
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was able to battle his way up to seventh place to lead away the third row in Race 2, ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who lost ground at the start and was unable to fight his way back up the order. Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) will start Race 2 from ninth place, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), a podium finisher in Race 1, finishing outside of the top nine after losing ground during the 10-lap race.
Tissot Superpole Race Misano Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’33.770s
2 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.087s
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +4.975s
Race Two
Bautista found himself behind Razgatlioglu from the opening lap and looked to make a move on several occasions, first on Lap 4 through Curvone before Razgatlioglu responded into Turn 14 before the same result a couple of laps later. On Lap 7, Bautista did make his move at Curvone and Razgatlioglu was unable to respond, allowing Bautista to clear on for his second win of the weekend and the 22nd victory of his career, putting him level with Marco Melandri. Razgatlioglu’s second place meant he claimed the 63rd podium in his WorldSBK career. The results mean Bautista has a 36-point in the Championship standings after four rounds in 2022.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) battled his way up from 10th on the grid to claim a second podium of the weekend, and the season, after making a move on Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on the third lap of the race. Rinaldi now has 12 podiums to his name, including five on home soil, putting him level with Gregorio Lavilla and Chris Walker. After Rinaldi’s move, Rea lost ground to the Italian but also kept a clear margin to the riders behind him to finish in fourth place, the first time this season Rea has finished a race outside the podium places.
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) claimed fifth place to claim his sixth top-five finish in the first 12 races of the season, although he had to fend off a late charge from Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing). Bassani once again got a good start to fight in the top group but dropped back before stabilising his pace at around the halfway mark of the race. After losing out at the start of the race, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) battled his way to sixth place for the third sixth-place finish of the round for the Italian, making a late move on Bassani at the end of the race.
Bassani came home in seventh place despite losing out after making his superb start, benefitting from Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) being given a Long Lap Penalty for track limits infringements in the race. Lowes had got ahead of both Locatelli and Bassani, but, after taking his penalty, finished in eighth place.
Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a rollercoaster race as he finished in ninth place, despite dropping down in the early stages of the race, to record a top-ten finish. He finished ahead of the lead BMW rider with Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) rounding out the top ten, 11 seconds behind Redding at the end of the 21-lap race.
Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) and Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) had a late-race fight for 11th place with the German rider just edging out Tamburini by less than a second. It was another comeback for Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) as he finished in 13th place after starting from 20th. BMW duo Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) and Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rounded out the points with 14th and 15th.
Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in 16th place after spending much of the race in the points, before being overhauled late on. Substitute rider Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished in 17th place ahead of Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in 18th and 19th respectively; the final two riders classified in the race.
The first retirement from the race was American rider Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) when he crashed at Turn 16 on Lap 3, while wildcard Gabriele Ruiu (Bmax Racing) was out of the race on Lap 4 with a technical issue. Italian rider Alessandro Delbianco (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) brought his bike into the pits with a technical issue, while Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) also retired with a technical issue on Lap 8 at Turn 10.
After a strong start to the race, Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) had a crash at Turn 11 on Lap 12 which ended his race; the Spanish rookie was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. Following examination, Vierge was diagnosed with a fracture of the base of his third metacarpal bone in his right hand and fractures of the capitate and hamate bones in his right wrist. An incident between Vierge and Bassani will be investigated after the race by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards.
WorldSBK Misano Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)
1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +7.194s
3 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +11.119s
WorldSBK Championship Standings After Misano (Full Standings Here)
1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 220 points.
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 184
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 141
