Andrea Iannone returns to win and does it in style with a race that is all about attack. The Italian rider’s first triumph in Superbike is one that he will remember for a long time, because it came in a race full of overtaking and twists, starting with Nicolò Bulega’s retirement even before the start.
“This victory is a dream, because I have fought hard in these 4 years,” said Iannone after the checkered flag of a race in which there was no shortage of battles. After effectively inheriting pole, the Italian maintained his lead, responding blow for blow to both Toprak Razgatlioglu and, above all, Danilo Petrucci. The decisive moment in fact arrived with 8 laps to go, when the two Italian Ducatis came to duel for the lead: if Petrucci had managed to pass in turn 1, Iannone immediately responded with a hard but clean counter-overtaking in turn 3, taking back that first position that he never left.
A stoic Razgatlioglu takes the second step of the podium, returning after the bad injury that kept him out of both Magny-Cours and Cremona: a fundamental result for the Turk, who thus gains important points on Bulega in the fight for the championship. The other BMW, that of Garrett Gerloff, closes the podium, preceding Alvaro Bautista who has no shortage of regrets for a race with a few too many errors.
Andrea Iannone, Team Go Eleven
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
However, taking a step back, the race was immediately interrupted during the first lap due to a problem on Sam Lowes’ bike, from which smoke came out after just a few corners until the moment in which he innocently lost control, falling in turn 4. The race direction thus rightly displayed the red flag in order to ascertain both the condition of the English driver and the track, given the fear that oil could have been spilled on the ideal racing line. This effectively canceled out what happened in the first corners by Andrea Iannone, who had managed to gain first position with a good attack in turn 1 ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Even before the second restart, however, the big twist arrived, namely the withdrawal of Nicolò Bulega due to a technical problem on his bike, which left him stranded and returned to the starting grid. Once again it was clearly Iannone who took advantage of this and, in fact, started in first position, which he then maintained even in the first corners.
Behind the Italian, Petrucci rose to second place, which was then taken from him by Razgatlioglu, who immediately started chasing the leader, while behind them Alvaro Bautista was the author of a wide move that made him slip to sixth position behind Alex Lowes and Van der Mark. With the group effectively remaining compact in the first part of the race, the Ducati Spaniard tried to make room for the comeback, engaging in a fight with Lowes and Petrucci, with the Italian, however, not giving up won, responding immediately in turn 1 and recovering third place.
Danilo Petrucci, Barni Racing Team
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Curiously, that was the moment in which Petrucci completely changed gear, because in the space of a very few corners he went from recovering third place to gaining the lead of the race, first overtaking Razgatlioglu with ten laps to go and then Iannone with a very decided in turn 4. In such an eventful race and with a group that remained essentially compact for a long time, it is not surprising that Iannone immediately attempted a counter-overtaking, responding with nine passes to go.
The two Italians started a duel that shuffled the top positions: if Petrucci had managed to get back into the lead with 8 laps to go, in this case too Iannone immediately responded, arriving at the counter-overtaking in turn 3 with a maneuver that showed all his determination. A tough overtaking that penalized Petrucci above all, who had to close the throttle and take a less effective line, thus slipping from first to fifth place, also behind Bautista, who had also been the author of a long shot on the previous lap. The one who gained, however, was Garrett Gerloff, an outsider in the situation and capable of moving up to third place with about five laps to go.
If previously the group had remained extremely compact, only with around seven laps to go the gaps began to widen, with the top five able to take around a 2 second margin over the rest of the grid. This left it open to a five-way battle for the final success, with Iannone however trying to make the decisive breakthrough with three laps to go by setting two fastest laps in a row, managing to take the advantage of over a second and a half that gave him it then led to the first victory in Superbike.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The fight was therefore reduced to a three-way battle for the podium with Razgatlioglu, Garloff and Bautista as protagonists, even if there were no overtakings, leaving the order unchanged. For the BMW Turk it is a very important podium on his return after the injury, especially keeping in mind Bulega’s zero due to the technical problem even before the second restart. For Bautista there is the regret of a race in which he made several mistakes, having to start the comeback towards the top positions several times.
Putrucci finished in fifth place and, after being overtaken by Iannone, when the pace increased he was unable to keep up with his opponents. Sixth place for a good Iker Lecuona with Honda ahead of Alex Lowes with Kawasaki. Closing out the top ten are Vierge, Van der Mark and Locatelli, who precedes Redding, Bassani and Rinaldi, while Jonathan Rea with Yamaha closes in fourteenth place.
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