Rinaldi mocked by Razgatlioglu
With the hat trick of victories on this weekend of Alvaro BautistaRace 2 in Barcelona seemed to end in the best possible way also for the Ducati, one step away from returning to the one-two that was missing from Race 2 at Philipp Island. Instead, right at the climax, the most coveted result from the Borgo Panigale house was denied by Toprak Razgatliogluable to reassemble on Michael Rinaldi, in crisis with the tyres, and overtaking him at the last corner of the 20th and final lap. Despite the insult, Rinaldi’s 3rd place still means his return to the podium, the third this season and the first from the aforementioned race in Australia.
Overtaking in extremis
Already during the warm up we could think of a spectacular race full of twists and turns, thanks to the rain drops crashes during the formation lap, with an intensity very similar to that of the finale of the Superpole Race. Instead, with the continuation of the race, the risk of bad weather completely disappeared, and this allowed Alvaro Bautista to be able to obtain the third victory out of the three planned for Barcelona. After a good start, however, the Ducati Spaniard was overtaken by Razgatlioglu during the first lap, only to then regain the lead of the race during the second lap and fly undisturbed in the lead until the checkered flag. Also during the second lap on the finish line, the Yamaha rider also lost second position to Rinaldi, who again made a good start. In the first five laps he also came to light Alex Lowes, who also momentarily moved into second position but was subsequently overtaken by both Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu. From that moment, with the Ducatis increasingly distanced from the rest of the group, nothing and no one seemed able to worry the duo from Borgo Panigale, at least until the last two laps: while Bautista flew towards victory, difficulties presented themselves to Rinaldi, especially as regards the tire management. An unexpected event that allowed Razgatlioglu to be able to recover gradually on the Rimini area, up to overcoming it with a decisive manoeuvre at the last corner, recovering second place in extremis. Even for the 2021 world champion, the third consecutive result in 2nd place in Barcelonawhile Bautista’s success was equivalent to his 43rd victory in Superbike, reaching in the all-time standings Noriyuki Haga.
Superbike / Race 2, Barcelona: order of arrival
POS. | PILOT | MOTORCYCLE | TIME/GAP |
1 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati | 34:17.010 |
2 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Yamaha | +8.583 |
3 | Michael Rinaldi | Ducati | +8.643 |
4 | Alex Lowes | Kawasaki | +11.366 |
5 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki | +12.824 |
6 | Xavi Vierge | Honda | +15.242 |
7 | Andrea Locatelli | Yamaha | +15.771 |
8 | Dominique Aegerter | Yamaha | +16.516 |
9 | Iker Lecuona | Honda | +18.946 |
10 | Garret Gerloff | BMW | +19.637 |
11 | Axel Bassani | Ducati | +21.561 |
12 | Daniel Petrucci | Ducati | +23.410 |
13 | Remy Gardner | Yamaha | +25.255 |
14 | Philipp Öttl | Ducati | +29.831 |
15 | Bradley Ray | Yamaha | +34.437 |
16 | Loris Baz | BMW | +37.717 |
17 | Ivo Lopes | BMW | +37.757 |
18 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Yamaha | Retired |
19 | Scott Redding | BMW | Retired |
20 | Isaac Vinales | Kawasaki | Retired |
21 | Tom Sykes | Kawasaki | Retired |
22 | Hafizh Syahrin | Honda | Retired |
Final corner move gives @toprak_tr54 second! ✊ 🔥 🚀 #WorldSBK | #CatalanWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/IFeAuoXOd7
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) May 7, 2023
See you at Misano
After the fourth round of the Superbike world championship, the category is now shutting down its engines for almost a month. A break full of anticipation especially for Italian spectators, given that the next appointment is scheduled from 2 to 4 June for the Emilia-Romagna roundscheduled on the circuit of Misano Adriatic. The next stage will also be the first of the two overall in Italy, with the second scheduled for mid-July in Imola.
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