There is now less than a month to go until the 2022 World Superbike season starts and preparations are underway. Today, in fact, Ducati, BMW and Yamaha took to the track at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the first of two days of testing, which anticipate the collective ones of Dorna scheduled for the week of the inaugural round in April. It is Alvaro Bautista, who appears reinvigorated in his second stage in Borgo Panigale with the Aruba team, immediately reigning supreme.
The Spaniard climbed to the top of the times table in the afternoon session and a crash in the morning did not stop him from finding a good feeling. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider lost control of his Panigale V4R at Turn 6, fortunately without consequences, and at the end of the day he signed a 1’33 ”983, taking the lead ahead of Garrett Gerloff, who dominated the morning. The American of the GRT team took the Yamaha to the top of the standings only to have to fold at the end of Day 1, however closing with an excellent second time, just under four tenths of a second behind Bautista.
Gerloff has placed himself between the two official Ducatis, who signed the first and third time trials on the opening day of the Misano tests. In fact, Michael Ruben Rinaldi got behind the GRT driver, just under half a second behind his teammate and leader of the day. The rider from Romagna did well on his home track, but Ducati seems to be going strong even with the independent teams. Philipp Oettl, making his Superbike debut, brought the Go Eleven team’s four-cylinder to fifth place. Twelfth time trial for the other rookie Luca Bernardi, riding the V4 of the Barni team. Between the two rookies is Axel Bassani, seventh with the Ducati of the Motocorsa team.
Loris Baz’s start of 2022 looks really positive: the Frenchman has brought the BMW of the independent team Bonovo to fourth position and is the first of the drivers equipped with the M 1000 RR. Behind him is his teammate Eugene Laverty, while Scott Redding closes the top 10. The Briton is adapting to the new bike and the new team after a season in Ducati and the garage has focused only on him , given the forced absence of Michael van der Mark, injured in training on Sunday and forced to remain stationary due to a broken leg.
The only Kawasaki Superbike on the track was that of Lucas Mahias, who nevertheless moved into the top 6, effectively becoming the fourth manufacturer in the top six. The other Superbike riders on track today are Kohta Nozane, ninth, and Christophe Ponsson, 11th.
In Misano, however, there were also some Supersport teams: the Puccetti team took to the track with Can Oncu, who set the best time in the intermediate class of the factory derivative world championship. The Turkish ended the day with a 1’37 ”832, beating the track record that until today belonged to Sandro Cortese. Despite a crash during the morning session, Oncu was the best of the day and precedes Nicolò Bulega, second and also under the track record.
Danilo Petrucci was also present for Ducati, who rode the bike in a MotoAmerica configuration. Tom Sykes was also on the track, also on the Ducati with which he will compete in the 2022 season of the BSB. Michele Pirro and Mattia Pasini instead took part in the first of two days of testing in preparation for the CIV, which will start in two weeks right here in Misano.
Time classification for Misano Test Day 1
- Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’33 ”983
- Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’34 ”376
- Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’34 ”461
- Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 1’34 ”917
- Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) 1’34 ”951
- Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’35 ”062
- Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 1’35 ”188
- Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) 1’35 ”259
- Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’35 ”455
- Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’35 ”592
- Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) 1’35 ”812
- Luca Bernardi (Barni Spark Racing Team) 1’35 ”824
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