MotoGP Race And Practice Results

Alvaro Bautista has taken his sixth win of the season, dominating the second Superbike race at Misano to extend his lead in the championship. Bautista was made to work for the win in the early part of the race, with Toprak Razgatlioglu getting the holeshot and rebuffing Bautista's advances through the early laps. Bautista used the superior speed of the Ducati to pass the Yamaha on the run through Curvone but Razgatlioglu was able to counter at Turn 14 by turning tighter and cutting off the Ducati's exit to slow Bautista up.

Eventually, Razgatlioglu was forced to relent. Bautista got through very early, well before Curvone, and had enough of a gap to prevent Razgatlioglu from attacking. The Pata Yamaha rider held onto the back of the Ducati, but the searing track temperatures and greasy track conditions meant he was having to take too many risks to try to stay with Bautista, and after one big slide too many, had to let the Ducati go, and settle for second.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi took the last spot on the podium, making a pass early on Jonathan Rea, the Kawasaki rider never really making an impression on the second race. Rinaldi made it two Aruba.it Ducatis on the podium, while Rea's fourth place was the first time he finished a race off the podium in 2022.

Iker Lecuona brought the Honda home in fifth place, breaking the big group battling for fifth in the final laps of the race. Andrea Locatelli finished sixth on the second Pata Yamaha, ahead of Axel Bassani on the Motocorsa Ducati and Alex Lowes on the second Kawasaki, Lowes having been handed a Long Lap Penalty for exceeding track limits. He was not the only rider to struggle with track limits, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Axel Bassani also getting warnings for running wide and onto the green.

Results:

Toprak Razgatlioglu has won the Superpole race at Misano, and his first of the 2022 season. The Pata Yamaha rider got a strong start, entering the first chicane in the lead, and tried to push on immediately. Kawasaki's Jonathan Rea had other ideas, however, attacking the Turkish rider into Quercia and getting past at Tramonto, while Ducati's Alvaro Bautista lurked behind.

Razgatlioglu countered and took back the lead at the start of the second lap, outbraking Rea into Turn 1 and holding off Rea's counterattack. Rea attacked once more at Quercia, but this time was not close enough to attempt to slide through on the inside of Tramonto. Once Razgatlioglu successfully defended that, he pushed on and opened up a gap which would prove insurmountable, going on to win comfortably.

Razgatlioglu was ably assisted by Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea, Bautista launching his attack on race once Razgatlioglu had broken free. The Ducati and the Kawasaki battled heard, especially in the final third of the track, Bautista using the speed of the Ducati through Curvone, Rea countering through Turn 13, and Rea and Bautista swapping places through that section for a number o places. Bautista would emerge triumphant, but it took him three laps to finally break Rea's resistance. Bautista went on to finish second. Rea held on for third despite the attack from Honda's Xavi Vierge, who got close to the back of the Kawasaki but was never close enough to attack.

Vierge's teammate Iker Lecuona ended as fifth, winning the massive battle which emerged behind, getting clear with a couple of laps to go. Lecuona ended ahead of Axel Bassani, Alex Lowes, and Garret Gerloff. Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who had been close to the podium fight in the opening stages, dropped through the field to finish tenth.

Results:

A warm track and new tyres would give us a dramatic race with Garrett Gerloff and Philipp Oettl returning to race after injuries.

Alvaro Bautista lost the lead into turn one as Toprak Razgatlioglu passed him into turn one. Jonathan Rea held on to the leaders, with all three riders side by side halfway round the lap. Rea took second place round the outside but Bautista took second place back a corner later. Michael Ruben Rinaldi led Axel Bassani and Andrea Locatelli in the fight for fourth place after one lap. Scott Redding dropped back to thirteenth.

Seven riders broke free from the pack, with Xavi Vierge at the tail of the leading gang as Axel Bassani set a 1'34.886 fastest lap. Bassani then took fourth place from Rinaldi as Rea took second place in turn four and the lead into turn ten. Lap three, Bautista closed up to Razgatlioglu but couldn't pass into turn one as Rea set a 1'34.723 fastest lap. Turn four, Bautista pushed Razgatlioglu off the apex to sneak through. Axel Bassani missed turn one trying to match Razgatlioglu on the brakes and took to the escape road, rejoining in fourth place, making sure he didn't benefit from his excursion and looking carefully to rejoin behind Razgatlioglu.

Alvaro Bautista set a fastest lap of 1'34.371 on lap five as he followed Jonathan Rea as the pair escaped from Toprak Razgatlioglu who got a track limits warning. Turn one of lap seven, Bautista couldn't close enough to pass Rea for the lead. A lap later and the same happened, but Bautista was on Rea's tail throughout the lap and he latched onto Rea's rear, bringing Razgatlioglu with him. 

The leading trio of Rea, Bautista and Razgatlioglu started lap ten as a group, but Razgatlioglu struggled to keep on the pace of the two bikes in front of him. At turn eight, Bautista tried to pass at turn eight, but Rea fought back to hold onto the lead. By lap eleven, Razgatlioglu was half a second off Rea and Bautista, a few seconds ahead of Axel Bassani, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Andrea Locatelli. 

Lap thirteen, and Bautista fired alongside Rea down the straight but couldn't take the lead into turn one. Into turn eight, Bautista tried to take the lead again, but couldn't pass. At turn twelve, the fastest corner of the track, Bautista charged past Rea to take the lead.

Alvaro Bautista led Jonathan Rea by two tenths of a second with Toprak Razgatlioglu less than a second further back only for Razgatlioglu's Yamaha to suffer from a mechanical issue at the end of lap fourteen of twenty one, ending his race.

Five seconds off the fight for the win, Michael Ruben Rinaldi led Axel Bassani with Alex Lowes and Andrea Locatelli just over a second and a half further back. 

With five laps to go, Alvaro Bautista eked out a lead of almost a second over Jonathan Rea as he set a fastest lap of 1'34.364, approaching the lap record. A lap later, Rea settled for second place, leading third-placed Michael Ruben Rinaldi by just under five seconds. 

Lap eighteen and Alvaro Bautista set another fastest lap and a lap record of 1'34.221, leading Jonathan Rea by almost three seconds. With two laps to go, Bautista was safely heading to another victory, four seconds ahead of Rea, after consistently quick laps throughout the race. 

At the flag, Alvaro Bautista took a clear victory, five seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea, with his pole position and lap record rounding out his dominance. Jonathan Rea was over five seconds off the win with Michael Ruben Rinaldi over three seconds further back. Axel Bassani finished highest independent rider in fourth place, ahead of Alex Lowes and Andrea Locatelli. 

Alvaro Bautista's victory increased his championship lead over Jonathan Rea to twenty two points with Razgatlioglu's DNF dropping him to fifty five points off Rea's second place. 

Results:

A 34ºC track gave the riders a more predictable session that was plagued with riders exceeding track limits as they tried to set fast laps.

Dominique Aegerter set a new lap record on his way to pole position, ahead of four Italians and a fellow Swiss rider. Nicolo Bulega and Lorenzo Baldassarri rounded out the front row ahead of Federico Caricasulo, Yari Montella and Marcel Brenner. Can Oncu missed out on the front two rows and was joined on the third row by Jules Cluzel and Stefano Manzi.

Results: