An extraordinary Sunday for Alvaro Bautista and the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team. The Spanish rider took a stunning victory at the end of a race that saw the clash between Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) and Rea (Kawasaki). Michael Rinaldi gritted his teeth and finished seventh after a difficult weekend.
- Superpole Race
P3 – Alvaro Bautista attacks from the start and recovers three positions to turn second at the first corner. On lap 6 he takes the lead after a great overtaking on Razgatlioglu (Yamaha). In the last lap, however, he has to surrender to Rea (Kawasaki) and then drop one position for exceeding the limits at the last chicane, according to Race Direction.
P8 – As in Race-1, Michael Rinaldi gets off a great start recovering seven positions in the first lap. The Italian rider tries to defend the fifth place but his race pace is not incisive in the second half of the race.
- Race-2
P1 – Starting from third position, Alvaro Bautista engages in the usual duel with Rea and Razgatlioglu until their crash on lap4. After overtaking Leucona (Honda) to regain the top spot, *Bautista maintained a fantastic race pace: he won by a large margin, closing the second weekend of the 2022 season at the top of the World Superbike Championship standings with an 18-point lead.
P7 – Michael Rinaldi gets off once again to a very good start. After four laps the Italian rider is in fifth position but from the middle of the race the difficulties of the previous days come back and prevent him from being able to be competitive
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19)
“I don’t know what to say: after the Superpole Race I was angry because of a penalty that I didn’t think was fair. But I stayed focused, got a good start, and fought for first place straight away. I was lucky not to be involved in the crash between Toprak and Rea, then in the next few meters I was even hit but I don’t know by whom. Then I started to make my pace. I thank the team for giving me the best bike this early in the season. This is a great victory”.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“It’s been a weekend below expectations. Except for the very first few laps, we were never able to find a good feeling with the bike, especially when the rear grip started to drop. So it’s been a defensive three races but unlike Aragon, in this round, the riders in front went much faster. We will analyze the data and try to do better in the next races”.
- WorldSSP Race-2
P4 – Despite a difficult start from P3, Nicolò Bulega pushes the Panigale V2 of the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team and on lap8 gets back the third position. Halfway through the race, the Italian rider manages to take second place, overtaking Baldassarri (Yamaha), but then he can’t find the pace to finish the race on the podium.
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP Team #11)
“It was a bit more difficult than yesterday’s race because the pace of the front guys was a bit faster. I’m satisfied though. It’s a good fourth place just three-tenths of a second off the podium. I tried until the end but maybe the tire choice didn’t help us. I’m now third in the championship. The objective is to close the gap with our rivals who are going really fast”.
