With high track temperatures of almost 50°C the Misano World Circuit -Marco Simoncelli was always going to produce a challenging race for the WorldSBK field.
Race 1 Highlights
A post Superpole penalty for slow riding for Nicolo Bulega dropped the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider from pole position to fourth on the grid. The championship leader led the first four laps of the race but eventually had to settle for 20 points in second position. He trailed Toprak Razgatlioglu by 1.045s at the end of 21 laps.
Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made a mistake on Lap 1 at Turn 8 and ran off track. Having started from pole position he dropped to third position at the end of the lap. Within a lap he took advantage of a crash from Axel Bassani at Turn 6 and then hunted down Bulega. The Ducati rider ran wide into Turn 9 and opened a door for Razgatlioglu to take the lead before quarter distance.
A race long battle saw Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) hold off Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) for the final step on the podium. At one point Lowes attacked into Turn 2 to take the position but within a few corners Petrucci was back through with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) finishing fifth for his best result since his Dutch Round victory.
From the fourth row of the grid Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made progress but a mistake at Turn 8, when he ran wide attacking Sam Lowes, cost him the chance to fight for the podium. Bautista finished the race in seventh but a post race penalty for Lowes, for exceeding track limits, dropped the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team rider to seventh position.
Championship Highlights
Bulega currently holds a 26 points advantage over Razgatlioglu.
BMW clawed back five points to Ducati in the Manufacturers’ Standings.
P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“This wasn’t an easy race but I pushed hard on every lap. I know Bulega and Ducati were going to be strong at this track and with the hot conditions it wasn’t easy for anyone to ride. During the last few laps I felt a lot of chatter on the bike but I just stayed focused. This race was very important for me and for the championship. We’re still fighting for the title in WorldSBK and I’m happy to win Race 1 but we still have two more races this weekend.”
P2 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“Honestly, I didn’t have a great feeling with the bike. With the hot track temperature I was only at 90%. If you want to try and beat Toprak you need to be at 100%. We’ll try to improve the feeling for tomorrow. I didn’t agree with the penalty. After Turn 10, I looked behind and saw Petrucci coming, so I started to push again to avoid disturbing him. I tried to explain this, and even Danilo told me he wasn’t angry with me, so it’s okay. I’ll just focus on doing my best anyway.”
P3 – Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team)
“This was really, really tough. I started from the third row and at one point I took a big hit to my arm, I don’t even know who it was, but I managed to get up to third position and after that I tried to push. Honestly, I wasn’t even able to push that hard because I was focused on managing rear traction. It was a tough race because you had to keep front grip for the race. Alex did a great job and he tried to overtake me. I thought I might still have a bit of margin. It was tough and I was just waiting for that last lap like it was my birthday!”
Race 1 Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.045s
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +16.684s
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +16.824s
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +17.450s
6. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +18.361s
Fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) – 1’33.201s
Tissot Superpole Highlights
First blood went to Bulega during the 15 minute Superpole session. The Italian set a time of 1’31.856 before Razgatlioglu lowered the mark with a new lap record. Within seconds though Bulega went two tenths of a second faster to set the pole time. He was ultimately demoted to fourth on the grid for slowing down on the racing line at the end of the session and bothering Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) on a flying lap.
Axel Bassani delivered a first front row of the season for the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team. Clever strategy saw the Italian rider leave the pits behind Razgatlioglu and this was rewarded with a first front row since 1989 for the manufacturer. His teammate, Alex Lowes, will line-up on the second row of the grid for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race.
Despite missing Free Practice 2 yesterday Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) set the fourth fastest time. He’ll line-up ahead of Alex Lowes and the impressive Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team). Having crashed twice on Friday Gardner showed composure to set his fastest time at the end of the session.
Superpole Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’31.618s*
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.238s
3. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.719s
*Started Race 1 from fourth following a penalty
For more info checkout our dedicated WorldSBK (World Superbike) News page superbike-news.co.uk/category/world-superbikes/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
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