#ITAWorldSBK Misano, Sunday roundup: World Superbike, World Supersport, World SSP300

 In News, World Superbikes

World Superbike

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World 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 his second victory of the weekend with a 7 second margin after an early-race battle with reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), making it a double for Ducati on home soil.
DUCATI DOUBLE AT MISANO: two wins out of three for the Bologna manufacturer
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.
TAKING HOME A TOP EIGHT FINISH: drama throughout the race
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 respectively.

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.

World Supersport

The battle for the win in Race 2 for the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” was decided on the penultimate lap during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round as Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) beat Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) on the penultimate lap.

Italian rider Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) got the better start and moved into the lead at Turn 1, but ran wide at Turn 4 and dropped down the order before fighting back, allowing Baldassarri to take the lead as Aegerter also ran slightly wide. Aegerter had to make his way past Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) which he duly did at Turn 4 on Lap 5 to move into second place. After that, he set his sights on Baldassarri at the front of the field and first made his move for the lead on Lap 12 at Turn 4, before Baldassarri responded at Turn 14. On Lap 17 of 18, Aegerter made his move at Turn 11 to claim his seventh consecutive win in WorldSSP and becoming the first rider to have at least seven wins in two different seasons, having taken 10 in 2021. It was also Yamaha’s 125th win in the class and their 33rd podium.

Baldassarri claimed second place for the fifth time in 2022 but will take confidence from the fact he was able to match Aegerter throughout both races, with the Italian now on seven podiums in his rookie campaign. Bulega finished third after making a move on Montella at Curvone on Lap 5 to move into third place, where he remained for the rest of the race. The Aegerter-Baldassarri-Bulega trio have finished in that order for the fourth time, the first time this has happened in WorldSSP.

After showing strong pace throughout the round, Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) claimed his best WorldSSP result with fourth place after battling up the field from ninth on the grid; the result also marks Triumph’s best result of the 2022 season since returning to the Championship. He finished more than two seconds clear of Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in fifth and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) in sixth; Caricasulo ran wide at Turn 1 on Lap 11 but was able to battle back for sixth place.

Montella ended up in seventh place after the 18 lap race after a late-race battle with teammate Oncu, with the Italian finishing more than 4.5 seconds clear of compatriot Mattia Casadei (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in eighth place, matching his result from Race 1 at Misano as his joint-best WorldSSP result. He fended off a late charge from Frenchman Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in ninth while Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) rounded out the top ten after bouncing back from his Race 1 crash.

French rider Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) was 11th, less than a second clear of Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph) in 12th. Soomer had to battle with Swiss rider Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) in 13th after he dropped down the order from his grid slot, finishing just three tenths behind Soomer. Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was 14th ahead of Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki); in a show of how strong Huertas’ rookie campaign has been, 15th is his lowest finishing position of the season with the 2021 WorldSSP300 Champion a regular top-ten contender throughout 2022 so far.

Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) and Unai Orradre (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP) crashed at Turn 14 on Lap 4, with both riders retiring from the race. The FIM WorldSBK Stewards would investigate the incident after the race. Luca Ottaviani (Altogo Racing Team) also retired from the race on Lap 11. Leonardo Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was another retirement after completing 11 laps of the race. Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) did not take part in the race after he was declared unfit with a right wrist fracture following a Race 1 crash; an incident which Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was penalised for with a back of the grid start and a Long Lap Penalty in Race 2. He finished in 18th place.

World SSP300

It was another thrilling battle in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) claimed his second win of the 2022 season in Race 2 for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round. With victory, only the second rider to win more than one race this season so far, Diaz reclaimed the Championship lead.

In a typically frenetic WorldSSP300 race, Diaz moved into the lead of the race with two laps to go and, despite late pressure from his rivals, was able to hold on to race victory; the second of his career. It means he now has a 20-point lead in the Championship as he moves back into top spot after his title rivals faltered during the race. Diaz’s margin of victory was 0.408s at the end of the race, as he responded to Race 1 where he missed out by just 0.020s. Japanese rider Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) made a late move into second place to take his eighth podium in WorldSSP300, putting him level with Bahattin Sofuoglu and Adrian Huertas, while Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) claiming third place after a dramatic race.

Hugo De Cancellis (Leader Team Flembbo) claimed fourth spot after battling with Steeman for the podium, with the pair separated by just 0.003s at the line. German rider Dirk Geiger (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) equalled the best result of his WorldSSP300 career as he took fifth place, ahead of compatriot Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing); Lehmann had crossed the line in fifth but was demoted one place for exceeding track limits on the last lap. Lehmann completed yet another comeback after battling his way from the middle of the pack.

Italian rider Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) had been in the leading in the group during the race but found himself down in seventh place ahead of fellow Italian rider Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) with less than a tenth separating the pair. Sabatucci had a two-tenths margin of Ruben Bijman (MTM Kawasaki) in ninth and wildcard Alfonso Coppola (VM Racing Team) in tenth. Coppola started from the back of the grid, 31st place, after a tyre pressure infringement on the grid but battled his way up to the lead group as he looked to replicate Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) at Estoril. He also was forced to drop one position during the race for overtaking under yellow flags during the race, with the wildcard eventually finishing in tenth.
Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) was half-a-second down on Coppola in 11th place with Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) 12th. Iglesias had been in the lead group but dropped down the order and finished just 0.049s ahead of 2017 Champion Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) in 13th place. Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) was 14th ahead of Filipino rider Troy Alberto (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) who claimed his first points of his rookie campaign.

On Lap 1, Petr Svoboda (Accolade Smrz Racing), Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) and wildcard Mattia Martella (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) had a crash at Turn 4, with Kawakami and Martella retiring from the race. Svoboda went back to the pits and returned to the race before a crash at Turn 8 on Lap 7. On Lap 2 at Turn 3, Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) crashed out on his own at Turn 3. Iker Garcia Abella (Yamaha MS Racing), Harry Khouri (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) and Marco Gaggi (Vinales Racing Team). Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) was a late retirement after a crash with Yeray Saiz Marquez (Accolade Smrz Racing) on Lap 14 at Turn 3, with Saiz Marquez able to re-join the race while Markarian retired; the Frenchman was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash.

Race 1 winner Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) did not take part in Race 2 after he was declared unfit with a thoracic trauma and was transported to hospital by helicopter for medical assessments. As he was due to start from pole position, every rider on the grid moved up one position, meaning Steeman started from pole position.

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