Michael Ruben Rinaldi returned to the top step of the rostrum with victory after a tyre gamble in Race 2
Race 2 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a dramatic encounter with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claiming victory after a long battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) reclaimed the Championship lead by a single point with second place.
The Red Flags were thrown on Lap 2 of the 20-lap race following an incident involving Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) at Turn 1. Sykes was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash but was conscious. He was diagnosed with a head injury and concussion and transferred to Catalunya Hospital for further assessments.
The new race distance of 19 laps got underway with Rinaldi a fast starter as he moved into the lead of the race ahead of Razgatlioglu (and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Razgatlioglu was able to go with Rinaldi throughout the 19-lap encounter but Rea started to drop back. Razgatlioglu and Rinaldi pulled away from Rea with Rinaldi. The Turkish star was able to pass Rinaldi to take the lead of the race, but this lasted for just a handful of laps as Rinaldi responded into Turn 1 with a handful of laps remaining, before extending his lead.
With Rea battling to stay on the podium, he had to fight to keep Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) behind him but his attempts proved to be in vain with the Italian rookie getting past on lap 10 before Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) followed him through. At the start of Lap 18, Redding made a move on Locatelli into Turn 1 for third place with Redding using the SC0 tyre, along with Rinaldi, while his rivals were on the SCX tyre. Bautista followed Redding through a lap later at the same corner. It meant Rinaldi claimed his first win since the Tissot Superpole Race at Misano, and the first time Rinaldi, Razgatlioglu and Redding shared the podium. Bautista just missed out on a podium place with fourth place, with Locatelli in fifth.
P1 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I’m so happy about today because it was hard to make the tyre choice. Everybody was with the soft one but last year I lost a lot in the last laps. Me and Scott were the only ones with the hard one. We made a good start and then I battled with Toprak. At the end, I had the drop, but he dropped more than me. I was riding smoothly trying to get to the end. I’m happy. After bad races, we needed a weekend like this. Really thankful to my team because they always believe in me. It was up and down during the year but the closest ones are always with me, so I want to thank them. Now we are going to Jerez with better spirit.”
P2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
“Today, I’m very lucky because I passed Michael and after my tyre had a big drop. The last three or four laps, I was fighting for second position because he went alone. I’m really happy and very lucky because we didn’t have one more lap, and if we had one more lap maybe I would’ve been fifth or sixth. We are happy to be on the podium again. For me, it was a very strange weekend. Yesterday, we had an electronic problem. I was very fast and I was going to win but we faced the electronic problem. Today, I did my best again. It wasn’t an easy race because front sliding, front tyre finish and also rear tyre. I think it was a problem for all riders.”
P3 Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“To be honest, I thought I had one more lap! When I saw Toprak, I thought ‘set him up for the straight’ so I don’t stress the bike too much. I saw the flag and thought ‘no way’. It happens, it was a good race. I would’ve been happy with a top five. A good start before the restart. Restart, back to position, go again. I struggle on second starts back to back, so the start wasn’t great. Got pushed back a little bit. Got my head down and started finding my rhythm. I didn’t feel comfortable, I just felt stable the whole race. This was good because last year I had a big drop. The SC0 seemed to pay off. We were risking but we were forced into that decision, we didn’t have another option. It was a blessing in disguise, so I was happy with that. It was an up and down weekend.”
WorldSBK Results Race 2
1. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +3.030s
3. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.207s
4. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +3.415s
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +4.306s
6. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +7.733s
Championship Standings (after Race 2, Round 9)
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (399 points)
2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (398 points)
3. Scott Redding (GBR) Ducati (339 points)
WorldSBK Results Tissot Superpole Race
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.211s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +2.771s
Fight to the line: Gonzalez claims Race 2 victory by just 0.021s ahead of De Rosa
There was nothing to separate the podium trio in an incredible Race 2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
FIM Supersport World Championship action came to a thrilling conclusion at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Hyundai N Catalunya Round as Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) claimed an incredible victory by just 0.021s ahead of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in Race 2, while Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) ensured all three manufacturers were represented on the podium.
Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was the big mover in the early stages of the 18-lap battle as he made moves on Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) and Gonzalez to take the lead of the race after starting from tenth place. The move for the lead came at the start of Lap 4 as he passed Gonzalez on the brakes into the right-hander of Turn 1.
As Lap 6 started Krummenacher and Öncü got as close as they could which slowed the pair down int Turn 1, allowing Gonzalez to reclaim the lead of the race with Krummenacher passing Öncü as well. A lap later and De Rosa was through on Öncü as well as Krummenacher to move into second place. Öncü’s fight for the podium came to an end on Lap 8 at Turn 5 as the Turkish rider came off his bike, re-joining the race down in 29th place and then bringing his bike back to the pits.
Öncü’s incident allowed the lead group to fracture out a little bit but there were still four riders battling for the race win, with De Rosa able to get alongside Gonzalez lap after lap but Gonzalez able to defend the position on the brakes. On Lap 13, De Rosa made a move stick on Gonzalez at Turn 4 to take the lead of the race, with Krummenacher and Tulli still in the fight for the podium. Gonzalez lost time at the start of Lap 14 as he ran wide at Turn 1 and fell behind both Krummenacher and Tuuli but remained in the lead group although moved back in the podium places on the following lap with a move on Finnish rider Tuuli. Gonzalez recovered from running wide as he passed Krummenacher for second before setting his sights on De Rosa. On the last lap, Gonzalez made his move for the race win and despite the Italian’s best efforts he was unable to re-take the lead.
It meant Gonzalez claimed his second WorldSSP victory and his fifth podium in WorldSSP while De Rosa came home in second place behind Gonzalez, his second podium of the Catalunya Round; just 0.021s behind Gonzalez as they crossed the line. Tuuli claimed his first podium since Magny-Cours 2017 with third place after a Krummenacher save on the final lap; just 0.074s between the top three.
P1 Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team)
“What a race! What a couple of last laps! When I went wide in the first corner, I thought I had the same problem as Misano. I pushed really hard in the last laps. I saw Tuuli and Krummenacher suffering a bit with the rear tyre. I was always on the limit, I tried to push. I thought I couldn’t take De Rosa in the last corner on the last lap, but the plan went perfectly. I tried to close in the last sector because I was suffering there a lot in the race. In the last corner, I tried to stop the bike and tried to accelerate. To finish in first position is incredible, my second win of the season. I will continue working like this because the team were incredible. The bike was working really well. The race was really fast.”
P2 Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura)
“Very, very close to winning! I’m happy after a good race from yesterday, today we needed to confirm and I’m happy because the team worked every weekend, they believe in me. I try to win but I couldn’t make the overtake at that point. I’m happy and confident for the rest of the season.”
P3 Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti)
“It didn’t come easy. I don’t know what happened with the setting. We are always so strong in the morning, and also this weekend, we feel the pace is good and the setting is perfect. I can stay in the low 1’45s and riding feels really easy. When the temperature goes 15 degrees higher, the bike changes totally and it was so difficult to ride. I was sure I was not going to make a podium and I was really mad about it during the race. I just tried to focus to make more or less the same lap time without mistakes and in the last lap I saw a couple of guys started to make small mistakes. I caught the group. It didn’t come easy.”
WorldSSP Results Race 2
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team)
2. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +0.021s
3. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) +0.095s
4. Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) +0.568s
5. Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) +6.159s
6. Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) +7.137s
Championship Standings (after Race 2, Round 9)
1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (302 points)
2. Steven Odendaal (RSA) Yamaha (257 points)
3. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) Yamaha (203 points)
Sofuoglu claims historic Race 2 victory in closest-ever WorldSSP300 finish
Just 0.003s separated the top two in Race 2 as WorldSSP300 had the closest finish in the Championship’s history, while Kawasaki secured the Manufacturers’ Championship
The final race of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship’s visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a record-breaking race as Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) claimed victory by just 0.003s in Race 2 for the Hyundai N Catalunya Round, fending off Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Arco-Motor University Team) in a drag race to the line.
The top five in the race were able to break away from the chasing pack in the first half of the race although as the second half of the race the secondary group was able to close the gap with a group of around 20 riders fighting for podiums and the race victory. With a few laps to go, Diez Cebrian made a move for the lead but was overhauled by Sofuoglu heading into the final lap, with the Turkish star claiming his first victory since the 2020 Teruel Round.
Diaz Cebrian claimed his first WorldSSP300 podium with second place and missed out on a sensational victory by the narrowest of margins, while Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) claimed third place as he returned to the rostrum. The French rider had been leading in the closing stages but finished in third place, just 0.096s from Sofuoglu. Di Sora was the lead Kawasaki rider in the race with his podium finish enough for Kawasaki to claim the Manufacturers’ Championship with four races to spare.
Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) missed out on a podium place by four tenths but fourth place for the Championship leader meant he was able to extend his Championship lead over Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) after the British rider was declared unfit for Race 2 following a Race 1 crash, with Huertas extending his lead over Booth-Amos to 43 points.
P1 Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing)
“I’m very happy because we worked a lot for the podiums yesterday and today. I’m very happy for this. When I was not good, making not very good results, I want to thank Kenan because he always helped me and my brother Toprak and my other brothers Can and Deniz. A big thanks to them; we are always together, and we always learn together. I’m very happy with this, we did a great result. I want to thank my team; they made no mistakes this weekend.”
P2 Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Arco-Motor University Team)
“I’m very happy with this podium. My first race as a wildcard and thanks to my team for all their support, and also Yamaha.”
P3 Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo)
“Third again! Here we are. After yesterday’s race, when the bike was not going well, it was a pretty heavy shock for all of us as we know we’re very strong here. To be back on the podium today, fighting for the victory, I led many laps. I want to thank my team for the job they did."
WorldSSP300 Results Race 2
1. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing)
2. Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Arco-motor University Team) +0.003s
3. Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) +0.099s
4. Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) +0.488s
5. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) +1.070s
6. Dean Berta Viñales (Viñales Racing Team) +1.070s
Championship Standings (after Race 2, Round 9)
1. Adrian Huertas (ESP) Yamaha (201 points)
2. Tom Booth-Amos (GBR) Kawasaki (158 points)
3. Jeffrey Buis (NED) Kawasaki (136 points)
DORNA World SBK