Danilo Petrucci had a near-perfect weekend in Cremona, where he also took victory in Race 2, taking his first career hat-trick. The two factory Ducatis completed the podium. World champion Alvaro Bautista prevailed over teammate Nicolo Bulega in the final phase.
After winning this morning’s Superpole Race (and Race 1 yesterday), Petrux took pole position in Race 2, with the front row of the grid completed by Alex Lowes and Andrea Iannone. The two factory Ducatis of Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista lined up on the second row.
The Barni team rider took the lead at the start, ahead of his Ducati teammates Iannone and Bulega. At the end of the first lap, Bulega overtook Iannone to take second place. But at that point, Petrucci was already able to pull away slightly. With the fastest lap of the second lap, Bulega was able to get back to Petrucci.
Alvaro Bautista struggled in the early laps and was lapping behind Alex Lowes in fifth. Petrucci and Bulega took the lead and closed in. Behind them, after six laps the gap to Iannone, Alex Lowes and Bautista was over two seconds. On lap seven, the reigning world champion moved from fifth to third. He was first to pass Alex Lowes’ Kawasaki on the back straight and shortly after took advantage of a mistake by Iannone, who misjudged his braking at Turn 11.
Bulega was unable to keep up with Petrucci and lost contact, with teammate Bautista lapping faster and closing in. Lap after lap, the gap between the two factory Ducatis narrowed, while by halfway through the race Petrucci had already built up a two-second advantage.
Iannone was unable to maintain the pace and lost some positions during the race. First he was passed by Alex Lowes, then by Garrett Gerloff and Iker Lecuona, who pushed Iannone out of the top 6. But things got worse for Iannone. With seven laps to go, he headed to the GoEleven pits and retired early.
At the front, Petrucci completed his laps alone, with the two factory Ducatis closing in at the start of the final third of the race. Bautista was within striking distance of Bulega with six laps to go. The Ducati command post watched the duel between the two teammates with great interest.
With three laps to go, Bautista overtook him at the end of the back straight and took second place with a clean move. Bulega lost contact with Bautista after a few corners and settled for P3.
Full points for Danilo Petrucci and Barni-Ducati
Petrucci entered the final lap with a two-second advantage over Bautista and left nothing to chance. The Barni rider secured his third win of the weekend and relegated Bautista and Bulega to the back-up positions.
Garrett Gerloff decided the battle with Alex Lowes in his favor and gave BMW a top-four finish, Gerloff reducing the damage for BMW in the manufacturers’ standings. Iker Lecuona finished the race in P6, confirming that HRC has recently made significant progress in the development of the Honda Fireblade. HRC teammate Xavi Vierge finished eighth behind BMW factory rider Michael van der Mark.
Yamaha not fast enough even with wings
Andrea Locatelli was the best Yamaha rider with ninth place. The WSBK weekend in Cremona was worrying from Yamaha’s point of view. The latest updates made to the Yamaha R1 did not translate into podium finishes. Behind Ducati, Kawasaki, BMW and Honda, Yamaha finished behind the five manufacturers.
Tito Rabat (Puccetti-Kawasaki) completed the top 10 in Sunday’s race, while Sam Lowes (Marc-VDS-Ducati), Scott Redding (Bonovo-BMW), Michael Rinaldi (Motocorsa-Ducati), Bradley Ray (Motoxracing-Yamaha) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW) all finished in the points. Reiterberger was thus rewarded with a world championship point. The German had already finished in the points on Saturday.
Garrett Gerloff decided the battle with Alex Lowes in his favor and gave BMW a top-four finish, Gerloff reducing the damage for BMW in the manufacturers’ standings. Iker Lecuona finished the race in P6, confirming that HRC has recently made significant progress in the development of the Honda Fireblade. HRC teammate Xavi Vierge finished eighth behind BMW factory rider Michael van der Mark.
Andrea Locatelli was the best Yamaha rider with ninth place. The WSBK weekend in Cremona was worrying from Yamaha’s point of view. The latest updates made to the Yamaha R1 did not translate into podium finishes. Behind Ducati, Kawasaki, BMW and Honda, Yamaha finished behind the five manufacturers.
Tito Rabat (Puccetti-Kawasaki) completed the top 10 in Sunday’s race, while Sam Lowes (Marc-VDS-Ducati), Scott Redding (Bonovo-BMW), Michael Rinaldi (Motocorsa-Ducati), Bradley Ray (Motoxracing-Yamaha) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW) all finished in the points. Reiterberger was thus rewarded with a world championship point. The German had already finished in the points on Saturday.
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