It was a thrilling battle between Bautista, Rea and Razgatlioglu with the Spanish rider keeping his closest rivals at bay
P1 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
Bautista claimed his fourth win of 2022 at the Circuito Estoril.
The Spanish rider made his winning overtake on the finish line, finishing ahead of Razgatlioglu by just 0.126s after getting a better run off the final Turn 13 corner.
Race 1 victory means he extends his Championship lead to a 27-point advantage over Rea.
“I led the most important metres of the race! I tried to pass Toprak, but he was very strong at the braking points and the only point that I really matched him was on the exit of the last corner. My traction, especially in the last laps, was better and I gained a lot of distance there. I just played my card on the last lap. I tried to be very close to him at that point on the track. In the end, I can exit faster than him from the last corner.”
P2 - Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
After battling with Rea in the early stages of the race, the pair having switched position eight times from Lap 6, Razgatlioglu was denied victory by Bautista on the finish line.
Razgatlioglu’s second place means he has been on the podium of all his races at the Circuito Estoril.
“Today, I tried everything. I did everything in the race. I’m feeling in the race like I was riding how I did in 2021 because this year I did not start like the real Toprak. In the race, I am feeling like I rode the bike like the real Toprak. I’m happy about this. We are battling with Jonny and a little bit with Bautista, but his bike is incredible because on the last lap, on the straight, he passed me. I am happy because this race was the real Toprak. Tomorrow, I try more because maybe we’re working to keep the rear tyre a little bit more. It’s a long race and I need to save the rear tyre because in the last five laps, I felt a lot of spinning.”
P3 - Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
Rea finished third in Race 1 after battling with Razgatlioglu throughout the race.
He was overtaken by Bautista on Lap 16 and Rea has not been able to maintain Bautista and Razgatlioglu’s rhythm. Nevertheless, he claimed the new Estoril lap record of 1’36.204s.
To note: Rea had a different tyre strategy to the leaders as he used Pirelli’s SC0 standard rear tyre, while Bautista and Razgatlioglu used the SCX
“It’s always interesting battling with Toprak. Our bikes are so evenly matched, Yamaha and Kawasaki, with the lap time. We make the difference in some areas of the track. It was really close in some areas. I felt like at one point I had the better rhythm, in the first 10 laps. I was trying to go to the front to go away, I could see Alvaro was approaching but he would always be so deep on the brakes in Turn 1 so there was a point where I couldn’t do anymore. Then I made a huge mistake at Turn 1 with a braking issue, I couldn’t create the issue with the front brake. It came right back, I jumped on the rear brake to stop the bike. I blew the corner and Alvaro went past. From that point, I just lost a little bit of track position and then I couldn’t really close the gap. I was by myself. With two laps to go, I decided to consolidate the position.”
P4 - Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
Andrea Locatelli was in fourth place for his fourth consecutive top four finish this season.
He had been racing on his own as he finished 12.244s behind Rea but 2.028s clear of Vierge.
“It wasn’t an easy race for me today. On the first lap, I needed to overtake a lot and I lost the possibility to stay with Jonny and Toprak. In the end, I tried to push the maximum. We improved a lot with the bike compared to last year on this track so I’m so happy about it. We have lots of data to try to prepare the bike for tomorrow. I really hope we’ll have dry conditions to try to try to close a little more the gap. We are here for the podium.”
P5 - Xavi Vierge (Team HRC)
Starting from 11th on the grid, Vierge pipped his teammate to claim his first WorldSBK top five.
Only 0.108s separated him from Lecuona.
“I am really happy! This morning, the Superpole was not easy for us, we are still struggling to take profit with the SCQ tyre, but we worked well. We knew we had good pace for the race, made a good start and kept pushing until the final laps and overtake some people. For sure, this is really positive for us. I can get to Iker and study him! I saw the point I could get to pass him, and I tried to in the final lap. We need to improve a bit on the exit of the corner; we had a very good feeling with the front, but it is really important at this track that, if we want to close the gap to the top guys, to find a little bit on the exit of the corner.”
To note: Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the first BMW rider in eighth despite having started from fourth on the grid.. Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) has been declared unfit for the remainder of the Estoril Round. The American rider suffered a deep wound on his left knee following a big highside at Turn 1 in FP3.
WorldSBK Results Race 1
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.126s
3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +4.835s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +17.079s
5. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) +19.107s
6. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) +19.215s
Championship standings (after Race 1 - Round 3)
1. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) Ducati (134 points)
2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (107 points)
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (84 points)
WorldSBK Results Tissot Superpole
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’35.346s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.091s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.617s
Aegerter claimed his fourth consecutive win with Race 1 victory
Despite a challenging start, the reigning WorldSSP Champion took the win ahead of Baldassari and Bulega
P1 – Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
The reigning WorldSSP Champion claimed his fourth consecutive win.
Aegerter finished 3.029s ahead of Baldassari.
Aegerter extends his Championship lead to 35 points over Baldassari.
“Perfect start of the weekend with pole position this morning. In the race, I did not have the best start, but I did not want to over push and then I took the lead again. One rider crashed behind me so it immediately created a gap. It was not so easy to keep this 3-second gap because I did not know how much I needed to push or not and the concentration was not so easy. In the end we managed the gap, it was a lonely rider but the most important is the 25 points for the Championship.”
P2 – Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros.WorldSSP Yamaha Team)
Starting from seven on the grid, Baldassari managed to take second place in Race 1.
Baldassari stands in second place in the Championship standings with four podium places claimed in 2022 so far.
“It was a good race. In the end, I could come back because I started bad as I was behind. In the end, I found a very good rhythm. We did a step up with the team after practice and we had a good package maybe to try to not let Domi escape. I was behind when a rider crashed and his bike was on the middle of the track and Domi took a good advantage and started to push. I had to pass Bulega and Oncu. In the end, second position is not so bad!"
P3 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
Having dropped positions after leading in the early stages of the race, Bulega was able to claim back a podium finish by taking third from Oncu on the last lap.
The Italian Rookie finished 1.501s behind Baldassari.
“I’m happy with this result. It’s my first time here, and as well for the team. So we did a really great job and my bike was working well. Still third … we want more, we want to be more at the front. I passed Oncu on the last lap, on the first corner and in the end it’s a podium, it’s a good result. We will try to find something more for tomorrow.”
Federico Caricasulo (Althea Ducati) was fifth in Race 1 as finishing ahead of Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) as the Italian claimed his best result of 2022 and his equal-best in his WorldSSP career. Glenn Van Straalen (EAB Racing) suffered a crash at Turn 9 and dropped down the order. He battled back to claim seventh place after losing 13 seconds with the crash.
To note: Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) did not take part in the race after he suffered a technical issue on the sighting lap, with the Italian rookie unable to take his place on the starting grid. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) had been running inside the top ten but a crash at Turn 4 on Lap 10 forced the Finn out of the race.
WorldSSP Results Race 1
1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +3.029s
3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +4.530s
4. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +4.865s
5. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +7.575s
6. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +16.525s
Full Race Results
Championship standings (after Race 1 - Round 3)
1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (120 points)
2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) Yamaha (85 points)
3. Nicolo Bulega (ITA) Ducati (72 points)
WorldSSP Results Tissot Superpole
1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 1’39.046s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.838s
3. Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) +0.906s
Garcia denied Di Sora victory on run to the finish line
Only 0.041s separated the first two riders on Race 1 at the Circuito Estoril
Race 1 highlights - WorldSSP300
P1 - Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing)
Garcia claimed his second win of the season.
He managed to create a gap at the front with Di Sora, the pair finishing more than one second ahead of third placed Okaya.
With his win, Garcia recovered the lead of the Championship standings as he now stands 7 points ahead of Diaz.
"Today, it was an amazing win again. I think we had a good strategy with Samuel to not disturb each other in the race. It was good because he made me a sign with a foot on the straight so I understood from the beginning. And then, I'm happy for the victory. We take good points for the Championship and I hope we can continue like that."
P2 – Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo)
Di Sora finished in second place, only 0.041s behind Garcia, claiming his second podium of the 2022 season.
He moved up to third place in the Championship standings with 60 points.
Di Sora’s podium is Kawasaki’s 120th in WorldSSP300.
"Very good race, we did a very fast race with Marc. We helped each other to escape from the other guys. I'm very happy for that. We proved another time that we are fast, and we are back where we belong. During the race, it was difficult to pass Marc with the slipstream before the finish line. I thought that if I had a fast last sector and have a bit of a gap, I could make it to the finish line, but it was not the case and I got passed by Marc. We'll try to change the strategy for tomorrow, to make the overtake in another place to try to win."
P3 – Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki)
Starting from pole position, Okaya claimed third place in Race 1, not taking advantage of his new lap record from the Tissot Superpole session.
He claimed his seventh WorldSSP podium, the second one of the 2022 season.
He now stands in fifth place in the Championship standings and is only 4 points behind Di Sora in third.
“We had a good pace in the race, and I knew we had the possibility to run away from the group but I made the opposite in the race so that's a disappointment for me. But we have another chance tomorrow, so we'll try again. I need to win for the Championship.”
Finishing just outside the podium is Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki), followed by Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) in fifth place. Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) was sixth and he conceded the Championship lead to Marc Garcia.
To note: Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) had another epic comeback as he started from 23rd on the grid to finish in seventh place.
WorldSSP300 Results Race 1
1. Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing)
2. Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) +0.041s
3. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) +1.418s
4. Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) +2.951s
5. Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) +2.985s
6. Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) +2.991s
Championship standings (after Race 1 - Round 3)
1. Marc Garcia (ESP) Yamaha (87 points)
2. Alvaro Diaz (ESP) Yamaha (80 points)
3. Samuel Di Sora (FRA) Kawasaki (60 points)
WorldSSP300 Results Tissot Superpole
1. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) 1’50.476
2. Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) +0.518s
3. Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) +0.633s
DORNA WorldSBK