Reigning WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista beat Toprak Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani in Race 2 to take his tenth consecutive victory. He became the first rider in WorldSBK history with 14 wins out of the first 15 races of the Championship. He extends his lead his championship tally to 298 points.
It’s unbelievable how we started the season, but the important thing is the feeling I have with the bike. I can ride it at my best, and I can get to the limit of the bike at all tracks and in all situations so I’m really happy for that. Records are to be looked at after my retirement but, now, we are building our way to try and keep this feeling with the bike to work. This is not the end. We have to keep working like this.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu took second place in Race 2 as he crossed the finish line 8.446s behind the race winner. He remains second in the standings with 212 points, 86 fewer than Bautista.
Local hero Axel Bassani completed the Race 2 podium to take his fifth podium, the first one since San Juan 2022. He is fifth in the standings with 126 points and is the top Independent rider.
Jonathan Rea finished fourth, his best result since Catalunya Race 1. With 129 points, he stands in fourth place in the standings.
Third in the Championship standings with 150 points, Andrea Locatelli completed Race 2 top six.
P1 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“Fortunately, in red or yellow, I have the same feeling with the bike. We had the same performance, so the colour doesn’t matter, what’s important is inside. It was a very special weekend for Ducati and also for me because, in the end, I feel half-Italian half-Spanish because I’ve worked with Ducati for many years, and I feel so good. Last year, we won two out of three races but this year we did the hat-trick so I’m happy.
WorldSBK Race 2 Report
There were fights up and down the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid during Race 2 at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed a stunning win to take a Misano hat-trick wearing a special yellow livery for Ducati, while his teammate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, crashed out from third place when fighting for the podium.
As the lights went out, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) got the holeshot to lead into Turn 1 before Rinaldi battled his way through on his teammate at Turn 4 to move into second. However, it did not take long for Bautista to head to the front of the field as he overtook his teammate and then went through on Razgatlioglu at Turn 8 on Lap 2. From there, he was able to build a gap to Razgatlioglu behind him as the Turkish star found himself under pressure from Rinaldi.
That pressure soon told for Razgatlioglu as the pair battled it out for second place before Rinaldi overtook the 2021 Champion heading into Turn 8 on Lap 3. Despite Rinaldi pulling away, Razgatlioglu started closing the gap but, by the halfway point of the race, Rinaldi had stabilised the gap slightly to around three tenths. On Lap 13, Razgatlioglu again closed the gap on Rinaldi as he looked to take second place from the home hero. Razgatlioglu made his overtake on Rinaldi at Turn 8 on Lap 15 to move into second but Rinaldi kept the pressure on, with the pair making contact at Turn 1 when Rinaldi looked to re-gain second place; Rinaldi’s race ended when he went into the gravel.
Originally a battle for fourth but turning into a podium fight after Rinaldi’s crash, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) went head to head with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Rea got ahead in the early stages before Bassani responded on Lap 3 to move ahead of Rea to claim what turned into third place to claim his first podium on home soil and his first of the 2023 campaign as he pulled out a gap over Rea behind him.
Rea claimed fourth place after losing touch with Bassani as the race progressed, but he was able to finish more than two seconds clear of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) in fifth place as he enjoyed a strong Emilia-Romagna Round. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) came home in sixth place after fending off Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in the closing stages of the race to take six, finishing a second behind Vierge and 0.245s clear of Petrucci in seventh after he bounced back from two incidents in the Tissot Superpole Race.
WorldSBK Race 2 Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +8.446s
3. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +18.368s
4. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +20.174s
5. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) +22.344s
6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +23.307s
WorldSBK Championship standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 298 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 212 points
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 150 points
WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race Results
1. Alvaro Bautista | Ducati
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu | Ducati | +0.101s
3. Michael Ruben Rinaldi| Ducati | +0.738s
Manzi bits Bulega to Race 2 win in Misano
Yamaha’s Stefano Manzi took the Race 2 win after a last lap overtake on Nicolo Bulega. He claimed his second win in WorldSSP and Yamaha’s first win in the category since Phillip Island 2022. He maintains his second position in the Championship standings with 161 points. Third place went to Marcel Schroetter for his fourth WorldSSP podium. He stands in third place in the Championship standings.
WorldSSP Race 2 Report
Race 2 in the FIM Supersport World Championship was a dramatic affair after a last lap pass by Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed his first win of the 2023 season at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round to claim Ten Kate Racing’s 100th WorldSSP victory. It was a race-long with between Manzi and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) which was decided on the final lap to deny Bulega a double home victory.
Bulega lost out at the start again as he fell behind Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) but he quickly moved his way back up to the front. Unlike in Race 1, Bulega was unable to pull out a gap to the chasing pack as Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) joined the front group as he battled for his first victory of the 2023 season. Manzi initially took the lead on Lap 11 at Turn 2 but Bulega responded a lap later to re-claim the lead as he looked to double up at Misano.
However, Manzi was able to stay close to Bulega throughout the final few laps and, on Lap 17, Manzi was briefly ahead when Bulega ran wide at Turn 10 although the Championship leader was able to quickly take the lead back heading into Turn 11. It was a short-lived lead for Bulega, though, as Manzi surprised Bulega with a move at Turn 3 on the final lap to move into the lead and deny Bulega a home double. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was just behind the pair, finishing 1.5s back from Bulega, to claim third place.
Caricasulo had a dramatic race as he got ahead of Bulega at the start but, as he was fighting for the podium places, ran wide at Turn 10 which dropped him down the order. He was also then given a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding but he was able to fight his way back to fourth place, four seconds down on Schroetter, but almost three clear of Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) in fifth, with the Spaniard taking his best result of the season and in WorldSSP. Wildcard Simone Corsi (Altogo Racing Team) concluded his home round with sixth place as he enjoyed a strong weekend as a wildcard in Italy.
P1 | Stefano Manzi | Ten Kate Racing Team
"It was an amazing day for us after a good Warm Up where I had strong pace. I started pretty well, and I was able to gain some positions until I arrived behind Nicolo. We started to fight a bit. He had a very good pace too, but I was starting to disturb him. I saw that in some areas I was stronger, but in the end, I thought that if I didn’t overtake him then, I wouldn’t not get another opportunity. In the end, I could overtake him in the last lap. It’s fantastic to win with Yamaha and my team. It was an amazing weekend for me.”
Nicolo Bulega was second in Race 2, claiming his eighth podium of 2023. He remains the Championship leader with 197 points.
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
1. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.208s
3. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +1.566s
4. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) +6.083s
5. Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) +8.834s
6. Simone Corsi (Altogo Racing Team) +10.938s
WorldSSP Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 197 points
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 161 points
3. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 148 points
Bruno Ieraci claims double Misano victory as a wildcard
Italian wildcard Bruno Ieraci won his second consecutive victory in Misano following his maiden win in Race 1.
WorldSSP300 Race 2 Report
There was action everywhere you looked in Race 2 for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship on Sunday during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round at the iconic Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as wildcard Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) doubled up on victories as a wildcard. After his Race 1 success on Saturday, the Italian rider was able to make his move to claim victory on Sunday on the last lap of 15 in an unpredictable Race 2.
As ever in WorldSSP300, the Championship was unpredictable throughout the 15-lap race as Ieraci added to his win tally to back up his Race 1 victory on Sunday in Race 2. He made the race-winning move on the last lap to take his points tally to 50 points for the season as he fended off German rider Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) by just 0.062s at the end of the race, while Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM.- Kawasaki) bounced back from his Race 1 crash to claim a podium finish at Misano. Ieraci becomes only the third rider in WorldSSP300 to take his first two wins on consecutive days, following in the footsteps of rivals Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) and Petr Svoboda (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR), while Geiger and Svoboda both took their third WorldSSP300 podium in their careers.
Dutch rookie Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) took his best result of the season so far with fourth place, only 0.740s down on Ieraci at the end of the race despite having to serve a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in Warm Up, while he was ahead of Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) in fifth; the British rider had to serve a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in Warm Up. Like Veneman, it was Seabright’s best result for him in WorldSSP300 so far as he claimed his first top-five finish in the Championship. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) led home teammate Mirko Gennai in seventh place, with Gennai battling from 28th on the grid after having to start from the back of the grid due to a tyre pressure limits infringement on the grid.
P1 | Bruno Ieraci | ProDina Kawasaki Racing
“It is an unbelievable weekend. I wouldn’t have believed it if you had told me on Thursday that I’d achieve this. I won two races… it’s like a dream. I still don’t realise what we achieved. It’s lot of emotions. We are a great team. I raced here as a wildcard but yesterday and today I was faster than my teammates.”
Dirk Geiger finished second, 0.062s behind Ieraci as he moved up to third in the standings with 71 points.
Petr Svoboda was third in Race 2, reducing his gap to Gennai in the standings to one point.
WorldSSP300 Race 2 Results
1. Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing)
2. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) +0.062s
3. Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) +0.411s
4. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.740s
5. Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) +0.934s
6. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) +1.071s
WorldSSP300 Championship standings
1 Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) 86 points
2. Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) 85 points
3. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) 71 points
Dorna WorldSBK