Gordon Ritchie | September 25, 2022
Sunday
WorldSBK Race Two
For the first time this year Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took three race wins in the same meeting, having put in another superb front-running display of his and his machine’s capabilities in Race Two at Catalunya.
His early pace was untouchable strong and assured. With his team-mate, and eventual second placed rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi, running interference for him behind Bautista won by over eight seconds, only slowing up to celebrate across the finish line.
Rinaldi swapped the podium places with several other riders through a race of changing fortunes for most, but once it reached the latter stages he capitalised on his own pace – and the mistakes of others – to secure a factory Ducati 1-2 finish.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was third, coming through from fifth, but not being able to find the pace to threaten the best Ducatis.
Having run wide twice Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was eventually fourth in a race which presented him with a tough challenge almost throughout. First from Rinaldi, but also from Razgatlioglu and not forgetting fifth place finisher, Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati). His early prowess was immense but he ended up five seconds behind Rea.
Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) placed sixth but was over 20 seconds – one second per lap – behind Bautista.
Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati) was seventh, Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) eighth and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) ninth.
The private Yamaha of Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) made it up to tenth place after some big names like Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fell. Only Locatelli restarted, but he did not score any points for 16th.
In the championship Bautista now has 394 points, Razgatlioglu has 335, Rea has 327 and Rinaldi 205.
2022 Catalunya WorldSBK Results—Race Two
1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
2 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 8.103s |
3 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 9.090s |
4 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 10.210s |
5 |
Axel Bassani |
(Duc) |
+ 15.677s |
WorldSSP Race Two
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) once more took maximum points away from a WorldSSP Race but this time he had a mid-race worry when he had to take to the escape road into Turn One to avoid clashing with his championship rival, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha). Aegerter got back into contention with the leading three riders, then passed them all to take another era-defining win. He has now won 12 races this season, with four complete rounds to go.
Drama occurred even after the combative race, when Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS) was demoted from second place at the flag to third – for touching the green track limits paint on the final lap.
Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was thus rewarded with a second place, not a third, after a race of complete commitment and aggression inside the podium places.
Behind Manzi, Baldassarri was a disappointed fourth, after his pace dropped off near the end.
Fifth was Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR), after Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) was also penalised for a last lap green paint infringement.
The ever-improving Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR) placed seventh, with one time podium contender Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) dropping down to eighth place at the flag, after 18 tough laps in warm conditions.
Leonardo Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was ninth and another strong early starter in green, Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki), rounded out the top ten.
In the championship points, Aegerter has 336, Baldassarri a round 300, Öncü up to third overall with 171 and Nicolo Beluga down to fourth, on 170, after scoring only two points at this round. Manzi moved up to fifth, on 133 points.
2022 Catalunya WorldSSP Results—Race Two
1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
|
2 |
Can Oncu |
(Kaw) |
+ 2.014s |
3 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Tri) |
+ 2.100s |
4 |
Lorenzo Baldassarri |
(Yam) |
+ 4.218s |
5 |
Niki Tuuli |
(MV) |
+ 8.863s |
WorldSBK Superpole Race
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) won the ten-lap WorldSBK Superpole Race at Catalunya after another front-running display of pace and control, doing enough to keep his only two potential rivals for the win behind him from start to finish.
Second place looked to be Alex Lowes’ until his KRT team-mate passed him with two to go, in what looked like an uncontested fashion.
With Rea third, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) recovered from a lowly first lap to get fourth place, winning a battle with Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s official Ducati at mid-race distance.
A risky gable on a front Q tyre, which none of the other top finishers opted for, paid off for Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati), as he ended up sixth, having started 12th. He headed up a three rider group that saw Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) and Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finish seventh and eighth.
Soon to be team-mates Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) finished side-by-side over the line, with Loris taking ninth place.
2022 Catalunya WorldSBK Results—Superpole Race
1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
2 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 1.185s |
3 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 1.377s |
4 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 5.088s |
5 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 9.016s |
Saturday
WorldSBK Race One
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) added to his winning tally with a dominant start-to-finish performance that saw him hounded by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in the early laps. In a race where everything behind Bautista appeared to be related to tire wear, Razgatlioglu would go from a long time second to fifth after the 20-laps had been completed. One time podium place man Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) was sixth, having started from pole.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) went from fifth in the early laps to an eventual – and unlikely – second place, minimizing the damage to his points tally with Bautista over ten seconds ahead on the penultimate lap.
Coming through the field as the race progressed Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) was a smooth and speedy third, even harrying Rea near the end.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) did his team-mate Bautista a favour in finishing fourth, taking advantage of the dropping grip from Razgatlioglu to relegate him to fifth.
With Lecuona sixth, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was seventh, after his own potential podium ride ended with the second Kawasaki rider just holding off the eighth placed Bassani.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was ninth and a resurgent Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) 10th.
2022 Catalunya WorldSBK Results—Race One
1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
2 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 8.665s |
3 |
Garrett Gerloff |
(Yam) |
+ 9.289s |
4 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 10.783s |
5 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 13.568s |
WorldSSP Race One
A shortened 12 lap WorldSSP Race One at Barcelona-Catalunya saw Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) run off to an emphatic clear win, by just under 3.5 seconds from his main championship rival Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha).
Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros Yamaha) had fallen shortly after the first start, and his crashed machine made the track unsafe. There was a red flag thrown and the race was shortened to a round dozen laps.
Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) came good on his front row qualifying pace as he held off Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) to take a podium finish in third place.
Fifth was the ever-improving Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR), who beat his more experienced team-mate Niki Tuuli.
Another rookie WorldSSP rider, Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki), was seventh, heading up a tight group that had Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in eighth place and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) ninth.
The top ten was rounded out by Simon Jespersen (Kallio racing Yamaha).
2022 Catalunya WorldSSP Results—Race One
1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
|
2 |
Lorenzo Baldassarri |
(Yam) |
+ 3.472s |
3 |
Can Oncu |
(Kaw) |
+ 3.717s |
4 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Duc) |
+ 3.857s |
5 |
Bahattin Sofuoglu |
(MV) |
+ 4.697s |
WorldSBK Superpole
Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) continued in strong form at his home round with his first Superpole in his rookie season, and Honda’s first Superpole success since Buriram in 2016. That historic success came thanks to current BMW rider Michael van der Mark.
Lecuona can now add this WorldSBK career landmark to his podium achievement at the Assen round.
Lecuona had been half a second ahead of all comers on Friday but was only 0.023 seconds up on next best rider Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in Superpole. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was third fastest, completing the front row for Race One later this afternoon.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) placed fourth and championship leader Alvaro Bautista fifth. The second row of the grid was boxed off by the leading Independent rider, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha). Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) was seventh, one grid spot ahead of 2021 champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) completed the top ten.
2022 Catalunya WorldSBK Results—Superpole
1 |
Iker Lecuona |
(Hon) |
1:40.766s |
2 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.023s |
3 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.217s |
4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.225s |
5 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.382s |
Friday
WorldSBK
Even though Friday fastest man Iker Lecuona (HRC) said that his best lap time had an element of fortune about it – as he had the right SCQ tires front and rear fitted at the right time in the morning FP1 session – he was an impressive 0.532 seconds ahead of next best competitor, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba Ducati) at Catalunya for round eight of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was third fastest, championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) fourth and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) fifth.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was sixth with the five riders behind Lecuona closely packed together on a day that threatening rains left the track surface alone until four minutes from the end.
Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) was seventh and Alex Lowes (KRT) eighth, after losing two faster times due to a track limits issue and then just catching the final chequered flag at the wrong time.
Axel Bassani) MotoCorsa Ducati was ninth and Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad) was tenth.
Superpole qualifying and Race One will take place on Saturday at Barcelona-Catalunya.
2022 Catalunya WorldSBK Results—Friday
1 |
Iker Lecuona |
(Hon) |
1:41.396s |
2 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 0.535s |
3 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 0.595s |
4 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.622s |
5 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.662s |
WorldSSP
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) broke the track record for on his first racing visit to the track with a WorldSSP machine, setting a 1:44.507 lap that was over a second faster than next best, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros Yamaha).
Nicolo Beluga (Aruba Racing Ducati) was third quickest and another next generation bike was fourth – the MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3800RR of Niki Tuuli.
Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)was fifth, one of four closely packed riders behind the runaway Aegerter.
Recent podium finisher Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) placed sixth, ahead of the first Triumph of Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Street Triple RS). Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) was eighth, the second Puccetti Kawasaki ridden by Yari Montella was ninth and Rafaelle De Rosa (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) rounded out the top 10.
2022 Catalunya WorldSSP Results—Friday
1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
1:44.507s |
2 |
Lorenzo Baldassarri |
(Yam) |
+ 1.005s |
3 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
+ 1.015s |
4 |
Niki Tuuli |
(MVA) |
+ 1.157s |
5 |
Can Oncu |
(Kaw) |
+ 1.162s |
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