The first race for the 2022 Superbike World Championship in Estoril was a tough fight. First, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) defeated Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki), but then the world champion lost to the victor Alvaro Bautista (Ducati).
The 2022 World Supersport Championship races will be held in Estoril without Michael van der Mark (BMW), Philip O’Tel (Ducati) and Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha). The German will replace Xavi Fores, in MotoXracing Marvin Fritz will drive the Yamaha R1 in place of the injured Roberto Tamborini.
In the Superpole, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) improved the record by 0.5 seconds, but in practice, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) shone with the fastest times. World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) is always close by.
Because the asphalt was cooler than it was in the practice sessions, Rhea relied on SC0 racing tyres. Razgatlioglu and Bautista SCX are the softer ones.
In the first half of the race, Rea and Razgatlioglu pulled out ahead and fought back as if the race was about to end. But since lap 15, Bautista turned the duo into a triple – a Ducati star who had been stuck behind Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) for a long time.
Bautista inherited second place on lap 16 after Braking Rhea and has since chased Razgatlioglu. The two changed positions several times, with the Yamaha rider benefiting from his exceptional performance on the brakes. But the Spaniard used the power of a Ducati to overtake the Turks the entire length of the house. Rea is eliminated from third place.
Honda put in an encouraging first race performance with Iker Lecuona’s fifth place and sixth place for Xavi Vierge. Scott Reading was also long impressed by strong lap times and his place in the top five, but in the final third of the race the Englishman was back in eighth place where he was still the best BMW driver.
Marvin Fritz (Yamaha) showed an impeccable performance in the first round and in 16th he only missed a few seconds 1/1000.
This is how the race went
Start: Razgatlioglu ahead on the first turn, then Rea and Bautista. Lecuona in fifth, Redding in 7. Fritz in fifteenth.
Lap 1: Razgatlioglu 0.1 seconds before Rea. Bautista dropped to fourth place behind Locatelli (3rd). Then Lowes, Redding, and Lecuona. Mercado failed.
Lap 2: Razgatlioglu and Rea 1.4s are ahead of Locatelli and Bautista. Fritz at 15.
Lap 3: Rea follows Razgatlioglu like a shadow and hits the rear wheel to let go – this time without crashing. Bautista can’t get past Locatelli.
Lap 4: Razgatlioglu is 0.5 seconds ahead of Rea who clocked the fastest lap at 1:36,204 minutes. The third new Bautista. Redding remains in fifth place ahead of Lecuona and Lowes. Fors and Fritz compete for 15th place.
Lap 5: Reaction slowly nibbles back at Razgatlioglu. Bautista (3rd place) is 2.8secs behind. Vinales gives up the race.
Lap 6: Razgatlioglu misses the perfect line, Rea slips in and becomes the new leader.
Lap 7: Driving Rea and Razgatlioglu to the extreme, Bautista can’t get any close.
Lap 8: Razgatlioglu presses Riya at the end of the straight line. Locatelli (fourth) is already 4.4 seconds behind.
Lap 9: As Razgatlioglu and Rhea fight up front, Bautista crawls a little closer. Fritz (16) two seconds behind Lucas Mahias in 15th place.
Lap 10: Now Rea takes the lead at the end of the straight line on the brakes. Bautista was shortened to 1.9 seconds.
Lap 11: It’s very close between Rea and Razgatlioglu, especially in the first corner. Bautista benefits from this: only 1.4 seconds! Locatelli is fourth, already 7.2 seconds behind. Reading (fifth) catches up with the Italian.
Lap 12: Bautista only drives in 1:36.867 minutes less than 1:37 minutes.
Lap 13: Rea remains at the front, Razgatlioglu on the rear wheel. Bautista back 1 sec. Reading, Licona and Verge are vying for fifth, while Fritz lost 16th to Luca Bernardi (Ducati).
Lap 14: Reaction misses a turn 1 – Razgatlioglu up front, Bautista is now second.
Lap 15: Razgatlioglu 0.5s ahead of Bautista and 0.8s ahead of Rea. Redding (7th) is behind Lecuona (5) and Vierge (6).
Lap 17: Razgatlioglu and Bautista with identical times. Rea (third) is already 1.3 seconds behind.
Lap 18: Bautista 0.041 off Razgatlioglu! Rea can no longer keep up and hold back.
Lap 19: Razgatlioglu struggles on his Yamaha to stay ahead of Bautista.
Lap 20: Bautista is in front for the first time, but Razgatlioglu hits the brakes.
Final lap: Bautista uses the power of Ducati to cross the finish line 0.124 ahead of Razgatlioglu, with Ria in third with 4.8. Fritz misses the points by 0.080 seconds for 16th place.
World Superbike result: Estoril, race 1 | |||
---|---|---|---|
location | Driver | Motorcycle | the time |
1. | Alvaro Bautista | ducati | |
2. | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Yamaha | + 0.126 seconds |
3. | Jonathan Ria | Kawasaki | + 4835 |
4. | Andrea Locatelli | Yamaha | +17,079 |
5. | Xavi Verg | Honda | + 19.107 |
6. | Iker Likona | Honda | + 19.215 |
7. | Alex Louise | Kawasaki | + 21956 |
VIII. | Scott Reading | BMW | + 23090 |
9. | Michael Rinaldi | ducati | + 24.104 |
10 | Loris Baz | BMW | + 25212 |
11. | Xavi Force | ducati | +27516 |
12. | Axel Bassani | ducati | + 30686 |
13. | Luca Bernardi | ducati | +39,599 |
14 | Kota Nozan | Yamaha | +39643 |
15th | Eugene Lafferty | BMW | + 41735 |
16 | Marvin Fritz | Yamaha | + 41854 |
17 | Lucas Mahias | Kawasaki | +42.790 |
18 | Christopher Bunson | Yamaha | + 50,082 |
19 | Hafez Syria | Honda | > 1 minute |
20 | Oliver King | Kawasaki | > 1 minute |
21 | Isaac Viñales | Kawasaki | > 1 minute |
Outside | Leandro Mercado | Honda |
Place the 2022 World Superbike Championship after 7 races out of 36 | |||
---|---|---|---|
location | Driver | Motorcycle | points |
1. | Alvaro Bautista | ducati | 134 |
2. | Jonathan Ria | Kawasaki | 107 |
3. | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Yamaha | 84 |
4. | Andrea Locatelli | Yamaha | 68 |
5. | Iker Likona | Honda | 60 |
6. | Michael Rinaldi | ducati | 50 |
7. | Xavi Verg | Honda | 41 |
VIII. | Alex Louise | Kawasaki | 37 |
9. | Axel Bassani | ducati | 34 |
10 | Loris Baz | BMW | 34 |
11. | Scott Reading | BMW | 27 |
12. | Garrett Gerlove | Yamaha | 25 |
13. | Philip Otel | ducati | 15th |
14 | Lucas Mahias | Kawasaki | 14 |
15th | Michael van der Mark | BMW | 11 |
16 | Eugene Lafferty | BMW | 11 |
17 | Ilya Michalchik | BMW | 9 |
18 | Roberto Tamborini | Yamaha | 9 |
19 | Luca Bernardi | ducati | 9 |
20 | Christopher Bunson | Yamaha | VIII |
21 | Xavi Force | ducati | 5 |
22 | Leon Hassan | Kawasaki | 3 |
23 | Kota Nozan | Yamaha | 2 |
24 | Leandro Mercado | Honda | 1 |