Opening race recaps from Misano WorldSBK/SSP/300

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Four – Misano – Saturday

WorldSBK Race One

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 forward to claim victory and set a new race lap record in the closing stages of the race.

In the opening 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, 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 in 2022 as well as Kawasaki’s 498th in WorldSBK; just two shy of a 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.

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.

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.

Alvaro Bautista – P1

“It was a good race, and I had a great battle with Jonathan. I have to admit that the feeling with my Ducati has been great since Friday. The higher temperature may have helped me, but I felt I could do well. I am happy because the race pace was really excellent despite never reaching my limit. It’s a special victory for Aruba.it Racing for Ducati and all the fans. I hope I can entertain them tomorrow as well.”

Jonathan Rea – P2

“In the beginning I felt stronger than the other two leading riders, to be honest. I got to the front, held my rhythm, and was able to hold a similar gap. I was better in some areas of the track and Alvaro was better in some others. But just over half distance he came past in the Curvone; he just arrived as I was tipping in, so it was a bit of a shock. I went wide and had to regroup a little bit, and then struggled to get onto the back of him again. He had a higher rhythm and he was using the rear tyre a little bit better as well. I have no complaints really, as I could see he was doing some things better, so I will use that information to improve the bike set-up for tomorrow. I am happy with the 20 points but a little bit frustrated that we were not a bit closer.”

Michael Rinaldi – P3

“I am thrilled with this podium. It is an important result after some rounds below our expectations and in which we could not find the right conditions to be competitive. We decided, together with the team, to change our working method, and the direction taken is certainly the right one. We are still not at 100% of our potential, but today’s race shows that we have made important steps forward.”

Alex Lowes – P5

“I had a good start, in fourth place, but I was not that fast in the first laps. Rinaldi passed me on the straight and then when Bassani passed me, I had to go off the track to avoid hitting him. This put me to the back of the group. The track temperature was a lot hotter than it was earlier in the weekend, so I did not have the confidence in the front to pass. So, I was stuck behind Vierge for two or three laps, same with Locatelli, but in general my pace was not bad. At this track, in these hot temperatures, I expected to struggle a bit more, so I am quite happy.”

Andrea Locatelli – P6

“It was not the best race for me today, because in the end it was really difficult during the race and also the feeling with the bike was not amazing. I don’t know why yet, because when we arrived here, we worked very well and the feeling with the bike was so good. But, today the conditions were completely different so probably we can do something more to adapt to this higher temperature. In any case, we have two more races, we have some data to work with tonight and we can prepare the bike for tomorrow. I want to try and close the gap and stay more with the front group.”

Xavi Vierge – P7

“I’m happy enough with today. First of all, I want to thank the team because they did a really good job this morning in FP3, allowing me to take a step forward in the subsequent qualifying session that, until today, had been one of our weak points. The race itself was a good one. Third row meant that we were able to make a good start and then maintain a very strong rhythm. We gave it our all and ultimately finished seventh, with a gap from the podium that is the smallest it’s been so far for me. We know exactly where we have to improve and have some set-up ideas to try in tomorrow’s warm up to see if we can progress a little in that direction.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – DNF

“I was fighting with Bautista and Johnny for the podium, waiting for the last six or seven laps because already the grip started to drop – Alvaro was very fast but I saw Johnny’s tyre start to drop and maybe I have a chance to catch him. After the technical problem it’s not possible to fight for the podium so today for me was not a good day, but tomorrow we try our best again. Not an easy race for everyone in the very hot conditions. I am not thinking about the championship, I know there is a bigger gap but I just focus on first win and we will see. I will try my best again tomorrow, I know Bautista is strong, but we will try.”

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Qualifying Results

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP600 Race One

There was no shortage of drama in Race 1 for the FIM Supersport World Championship as Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed victory after rival Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was penalised for a last-lap track limits infringement at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. The results of the race at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round mean Aegerter has extended his Championship lead to 49 points after just seven races so far in 2022.

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) got a good launch off the line to move into the lead of the race and looked to pull a gap out, thanks to lap record pace in the opening laps of the race, over the chasing Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team). Despite a series of faster laps from both Aegerter and Baldassarri as the race progressed, Bulega was able to hold on to the lead of the race until Lap 17.

At Turn 1 on Lap 17, Aegerter made his move into the right-hander to move into the lead of the race with just two laps to go with Baldassarri taking advantage of Bulega losing momentum to swoop around the outside of Turn 2 and into Turn 3.

On the last lap, Baldassarri, at the same corner, made his move on Aegerter for the lead of the race and withstood a move from the Swiss rider at Turn 14 to hold on. However, on the exit of Turn 15, Baldassarri was adjudged to have gone on the green by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards and was demoted one place, promoting Aegerter to victory.

Aegerter now has 16 wins in WorldSSP, putting him level with Andrew Pitt and Sam Lowes at 16th in the all-time list while his sixth consecutive win means he now has the second longest winning streak in WorldSSP; exceeding his best of five from last season and putting him only behind Andrea Locatelli who scored nine in 2020.

The battle for fourth was decided on the line in a battle with four riders looking to finish as high up as possible. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was battling with team-mate Yari Montella throughout the race and the pair were involved in the scrap for fourth place, with Oncu coming home in fourth.

Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph), who started ninth, battled his way up to fifth place ahead of Montella in sixth and Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in seventh; with just three tenths separating the four riders.

Matia Casadei (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), standing in for the recovering Niki Tuuli, took a top eight finish as he withstood the challenge from Swiss rider Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) in ninth as they battled on the final lap. Spanish rookie Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) continued his impressive start to his maiden WorldSSP campaign with tenth place.

Ducati riders Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) and Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) both had crashes during the race, both bringing their bike back to the pits and returning to the race three and four laps down respectively, eventually being classified in 22nd and 23rd.  Oli’s countryman Ben Currie recorded a DNF.

Oli Bayliss

“There were two sides to today, which was positive in terms of qualifying and negative in terms of the race. The team and I ran a good Superpole, which allowed us to start the race from row four. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a good feeling with the front and crashed early on. But we know that we can be in a good position for tomorrow’s second race.”

WorldSSP600 Race One Results

WorldSSP600 Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Race One

The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship battle went down to the wire as home hero Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) claimed an incredible first World Championship win from pole position at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Vannucci led most of the race but had to fend off a last-lap challenge from Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) to take victory.

Aside from the opening lap where he lost out at the start, Vannucci led throughout the 15-lap race from pole position, where he started after breaking the lap record in Tissot Superpole on Saturday. He was able to open up a gap of around two seconds during the race but soon found himself under pressure from Championship contender Diaz, who closed the gap and took the lead on the last lap. However, Vannucci was able to fight back on the run to the line to win by just 0.020s.

Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) claimed third place as he maintains his Championship challenge, with the top three separated by just two points; Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) on 102 points, Di Sora one point back and Diaz one point further back.

Coppola had a seven second gap to Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) in fifth place after the Dutchman was penalised with a double Long Lap Penalty for jumping the start. Steeman had dropped down the order to the fringes of the points but was able to fight back for a top-five finish, ahead of Spanish rider Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) and Dirk Geiger (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki); Iglesias and Geiger were separated by just 0.034s at the end of the race.

Japanese rider Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) finished in eighth place with a three-tenths margin over Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) with the Frenchman fending off a challenge from Ruben Bijman (MTM Kawasaki) to claim ninth place; Bijman was tenth after being given a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in Free Practice 2.

Young Aussie Harry Khouri (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) crashed at turn 16 on the fourth lap of the race

WorldSSP300 Race One Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Four – Misano – AEST Schedule

2022 WorldSBK Calendar