WorldSBK/SSP/SSP300 Saturday round up from Estoril

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Three – Estoril

Saturday saw the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship descended on Circuito Estoril in Portugal, where Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed victory from Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), extending his Championship lead.

Razgatlioglu got a good start from second on the grid to lead into Turn 1 with Rea in second – a precursor of what was to come during the 21-lap race. The pair consistently switched positions throughout, with Turn 1 the overtaking hotspot with eight overtakes at Turn 1 just between Rea and Razgatlioglu across 10 laps.

On Lap 16, Bautista was able to take advantage of Rea running wide as he looked to move around the outside of Razgatlioglu, with Bautista moving up to second place and Rea dropping to third as a result. Rea then lost further time to the pair leaving Bautista and Razgatlioglu to fight it out. This battle went down to the final run to the line with Bautista just pipping Razgatlioglu by 0.126s after getting a better run off the final Turn 13 corner.

Alvaro Bautista – P1

“I am very very happy with this victory, especially considering it was not an easy race. A mistake at the first corner made me lose a position. As a result, I had to fight with Locatelli before I could focus on the comeback. The gap with Johnny and Toprak was quite wide but I felt the pace was good and in the last laps I realized I could fight for the win. The final overtake? I think that was the only point where I could have overtaken Toprak. I am very happy, especially for the team who is doing a great job”.

Victory for Bautista puts him on 20 wins for in his WorldSBK career and marks his fourth win of the 2022 season, extending his lead to 27 points over Rea and 50 from Razgatlioglu. The occasion also Ducati’s 380th victory in WorldSBK.

Toprak Razgatlioğlu – P2

“I tried everything and I gave 100% in the race – my bike feels amazing, like 2021 but now even better as we see from the laptimes! Start of this year I didn’t feel like the ‘real Toprak’ but today I feel like myself and I enjoyed the race. I am happy for this and also the battle with Johnny and a little bit Bautista, only we need a bit more in the end! Tomorrow I will try more, we are working to keep the rear tyre grip to improve the acceleration. In the long race I need to save the tyre because last five laps I am feeling too much spinning. I enjoyed the braking a lot, because the feeling was very easy to pass Johnny and Alvaro in the first corner – I’m happy for this, but tomorrow I also need a good setup for the rear tyre to fight to the end.”

Jonathan Rea – P3

“That was a fight but I just didn’t have the bike set-up in the last laps. It was moving a lot, losing traction – especially entry traction. I could not stop the same as I could in the beginning of the race. We expected a lower track temperature over full race distance. I was happy to be there in the first ten laps, and I felt faster than Toprak at that point in the race but I made a mistake at T1 in braking and the lever came back to the handlebar. I could not make any more pressure so I was jumping on the back brake just to stop. I went wide and Alvaro came through. With him there I thought, ‘maybe he can take me to Toprak again?’ but I did not have the package today to fight right at the end. I am happy with the points and the podium but we have work to do tonight to try to be a bit more competitive tomorrow.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claimed fourth place, while Vierge overtook Lecuona in the closing stages of the 21-lap race to claim his first top five result in WorldSBK, finishing just a tenth ahead of his teammate. The duo battled with Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), before he dropped back behind both Honda riders and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK); Lowes finishing seventh and Redding in eighth.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) finished ninth after making late-race progress to move inside the top ten, a second ahead of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), who rounded out the top ten and finished as the Best Independent Rider in Race 1.

After being called up at the last minute to replace the injured Philipp Oettl, Xavi Fores (Team Goeleven) finished in 11th place three seconds clear of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in 12th place, Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) battled up to 13th place, fending off Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) by just half-a-tenth at the line.

Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) made it two Independent BMW riders inside the points with 15th place; ahead of Marvin Fritz (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) as he substituted for Roberto Tamburini and just missed a point.

Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished in 17th place ahead of Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha). Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) was in 19th place ahead of Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Isaac Vinales (TPR Team Pedercini Racing). Vinales brought his Kawasaki ZX-10RR into the pits, and lost two laps, before re-joining the race and being classified in 21st place.

Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) retired from the race on the opening lap of the race after a Turn 7 crash. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) did not race after being declared unfit following their crashes throughout the weekend.

Estoril WorldSBK Race One Results

Estoril WorldSBK Championship Points

Estoril WorldSBK Estoril 2022 Superpole

Estoril WorldSSP600

Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claiming his fourth FIM Supersport World Championship consecutive victory at Estoril. The reigning Champion had to battle back after losing ground but would eventually claim victory by three seconds from Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), with an even more distant Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) completing the podium.

Aegerter lost the lead shortly after the start, losing ground to Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Bulega with the Italian rider taking the lead. A mistake from Bulega at Turn 6 dropped him down to fifth place on the opening lap while Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was the big mover over the opening two laps, from eighth.

It wouldn’t be until Lap 8 that Aegerter would take the lead of the race as he took advantage of Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) and Oncu battling for the lead to pass the pair into Turn 1, and from there the reigning Champion did not look back as he went on to claim his fourth win of the 2022 season.

Baldassarri  also had to battle back after losing out at the start, while Oncu ran in third place until the final lap before Bulega made his move at Turn 1 on the Turkish star for the final podium place, with Oncu coming home in fourth place.

Victory for Aegerter means he now has 14 wins in WorldSSP and 21 podiums, putting him level at tenth in the all-time list with Stephane Chambon, Kevin Curtain and Katsuaki Fujiwara. Aegerter now leads Baldassarri in the standings 120-points to 85, with Beluga on 72-points.

Australia’s Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) came home in 12th. Bayliss had shown strong pace in the closing stages of the race but was unable to move himself into the top ten.

Tom Edwards (Yart – Yamaha WorldSSP) battled back from a Lap 3, Turn 9 crash to finish in 18th place on his second wildcard event.

Ben Currie (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) brought his bike into the pits.

Estoril WorldSSP Race Results

WorldSSP Championship Standings

Estoril WorldSSP300

Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) claimed his second Supersport 300 win of the season on Saturday, and with it the Championship lead, after a race-long battle with Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) in Race 1 at Estoril. After the duo broke away from the chasing pack, the battle for the race win came down to the line.

Both Garcia and Di Sora were able to break away from the chasing pack as they worked together, with Di Sora using the slipstream to pass Garcia down the start and finish straight before Garcia used the slipstream on the run down to Turn 1 and outbraking the Frenchman on the inside. This was a pattern that continued until the final two laps, when Di Sora made a move into Turn 6 on Lap 11 of 12.

Garcia responded into Turn 1 on the final lap before Di Sora made an overtake into Turn 3 for the lead of the race. Despite pulling away in the final sector, Garcia used the slipstream from Di Sora to take victory by just 0.041s at the end of the 12-lap contest.

Polesitter Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) claimed third place after his Superpole performance where he broke the lap record, his seventh WorldSSP300 podium. Okaya had a margin of more than one second to Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) who finished in fourth place, who had to fend off a pack of riders.

Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) was fifth, Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) a further 0.006s back. It was an epic comeback for Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) battling from 23rd to claim seventh. Rookie Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) took eighth. Ruben Bijman (MTM Kawasaki) and Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) had sanctions, with Bijman taking a double Long Lap Penalty and Geiger a Long Lap Penalty for slow riding, but were able to claim ninth and tenth separated by 0.039s.

Harry Khouri (Team#109 Kawasaki) was a late retirement from the race after he suffered from a technical issue late on in the race.

Estoril WorldSSP300 Race Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Standings

2022 Estoril WorldSBK Schedule

2022 WorldSBK Calendar