Race 2 Highlights
On his 154th start Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) finally won his first WorldSBK race. The Italian rider, the 2020 WorldSSP champion for Yamaha, delivered a sensational performance. Luck was on his side but having finished on the podium in Race 1 and fourth in the Superpole Race he showed his consistency this weekend.
Despite starting from the fourth row of the Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was the favourite for the race and hit the front on Lap 11. The Italian suffered a second mechanical failure of the day at the start of the penultimate lap.
A race long battle for the podium was settled in Alvaro Bautista’s favour. The double World Champion finished the race almost three seconds behind the winner but had a margin to Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in third. The pair spent the race fighting throughout the 21 lap race.
Having struggled for pace and consistency in Race 1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) once again had a difficult race. The BMW rider battled in the lead group during the first half of the race but gradually lost positions. During the final laps he was overtaken by Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) and finished in eighth position.
Championship Highlights
Having suffered two non-scores on Sunday Bulega now holds a 21 point advantage over Razgatlioglu at the quarter point of the season.
Locatelli’s first victory has elevated him to third in the standings and sits 29 points behind Bulega.
Ducati hold a 48 points lead from BMW in the Manufacturer Standings with Yamaha 58 points adrift.
P1 – Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha)
“It’s an amazing day! I still can’t quite believe it but I need to enjoy the moment. I have great memories from here with my first podium in 2021 and now my first win. Maybe this place is a good fit for me. We did an incredible job all weekend and we were strong in all conditions. This is only the third round but it’s our first win and already our third podium of the season. We need to keep pushing in this direction because there are a lot of races left. I want to enjoy this moment and take a bit of a break because I’ve been working really hard to be in this position. Then we’ll reset and fight again. I hope to be on the podium, and maybe even win, at Cremona in front of the Italian fans.”
P8 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“The Superpole Race was in full wet conditions and I felt great on the bike. The grip wasn’t bad. This was my first win in the wet conditions on a Superbike so I’m really happy about that. I was already thinking about Race 2, which looked dry, this morning. We tried a different setup but it still didn’t work. We used a different tyre compared to Race 1 because yesterday the rear tyre dropped for the last eight laps. Today we used the harder SC0 tyre but in the last laps I had the same problem. At one point I was even thinking about coming into the pit box. But then I focused on scoring points. To finish seventh or eighth doesn’t mean much for me but it’s a long championship. We need to improve the bike, and I hope we can come back stronger to fight for wins.”
DNF– Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I don’t know what to say. We had a problem this morning in the Superpole Race but I had a really strong Race 2. I was leading the race with a gap but with two laps to go the bike stopped again, just like in the morning. The team is checking what caused it because both problems felt the same. I’ll try my best at Cremona to to recover points. Right now, I’m just thinking about everything I did today and for sure I’ll try to bounce back next time.”
Race 2 Results
1. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha)
2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.968s
3. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +4.396s
4. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +4.803s
5. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +7.380s
6. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +12.109s
Tissot Superpole Highlights
The ten lap Superpole Race started in wet conditions but as the race progressed conditions improved. Starting from the front row of the grid Toprak Razgatlioglu led all but one lap to claim his first career victory in wet conditions.
Championship leader Nicolo Bulega led the opening tour before dropping to second position. A technical problem eventually sidelined the Italian from podium contention and as a result he was forced to start Race 2 from tenth on the grid.
Pole-sitter Sam Lowes’ strong weekend continued with a first career podium in the Superbike class. Lowes dropped to eighth position at the end of the opening lap but within three tours he was in podium contention. The ELF Marc VDS Racing Team rider was Razgatlioglu’s closest challenger and finished in second position.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) rounded out the podium finishers while Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Honda Racing Team) finished in ninth position for the all-important final point.
Superpole Race Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
2. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +3.798s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +6.895s
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©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
