WorldSBK Misano Race 1 Results | Bautista escapes to victory, Razgatlioglu DNF

Alvaro Bautista emphasises his 2022 WorldSBK Championship favourite status with a fifth victory of the season at Misano as Toprak Razgatlioglu retires

Alvaro Bautista - Aruba.it Ducati
Alvaro Bautista - Aruba.it Ducati

Alvaro Bautista has extended his advantage at the head of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship standings with a formidable Race 1 win in Misano, while Toprak Razgatlioglu’s hopes of defending his title were dealt a massive blow when he retired with technical issues.

Coming into the weekend with a solid 17 point lead over Jonathan Rea in the standings, Bautista promptly sent a very clear statement to his title rivals by being ragged yet still very quick in the early stages, before pulling more than five seconds on the Kawasaki once he’d found his rhythm.

Indeed, having secured his first pole position since Argentina in 2019, Bautista made heavy work of the initial laps after being beaten to the hole-shot by Razgatlioglu before being levered out of the way by Rea on lap two too.

With Rea seizing the lead off Razgatlioglu on lap three, Bautista promptly followed suit to leave the Turk in a third place he’d steadily fade into before pulling off track at the end of lap 14 with mechanical problems on his Yamaha.

Up front, Bautista was crawling all over a steadfast Rea, his first two attempts at overtaking at Turn 4 concluding the same way with Rea getting the undercut.

As such, the Spaniard chose instead to use an element of surprise with his decisive overtake on lap 12 with an inch-perfect pass up the inside at the high-speed Curvone.

While a few wild moments on the Ducati allowed Rea to stay close for a few laps, once Bautista began pulling away, it happened quickly, finding more than five seconds over Rea during the last third of the race.

Extending his lead over the Kawasaki man to 22 points, perhaps more significant is now the huge 77-point margin to Razgatlioglu.

With Ducati celebrating a popular win on home soil, Michael Ruben Rinaldi joined the celebrations with his first podium of the season in third place, while Axel Bassani did his bit too as the top privateer on the Motocorsa Panigale with an impressive charge up the order from tenth on the grid.

Alex Lowes recovered from a poor opening to the race to recover back to fifth place, ahead home hope Andrea Locatelli, while Xavi Vierge led the Honda challenge in seventh. Garrett Gerloff, Iker Lecuona and top BMW rider Scott Redding rounded out the top ten.

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Misano, Italy | Race 1 RESULTS

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Misano, Italy | Race 1 RESULTS | Round 4 / 12
Pos Rider Nat. WorldSBK Team Superbike Timing
1 Alvaro Bautista ESP Aruba Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R 21 Laps
2 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR +5.128
3 Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Aruba Racing Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R +8.289
4 Axel Bassani ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R +10.415
5 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki ZX-10RR +11.888
6 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Yamaha Yamaha R1 +13.320
7 Xavi Vierge ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R +14.396
8 Garrett Gerloff USA GRT Yamaha Team Yamaha R1 +14.775
9 Iker Lecuona ESP Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R +19.968
10 Scott Redding GBR BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR +26.408
11 Roberto Tamburini ITA Motoxracing Team Yamaha R1 +37.655
12 Kohta Nozane JPN GRT Yamaha Team Yamaha R1 +40.510
13 Eugene Laverty IRL Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR +41.695
14 Luca Bernardi SMR Barni Spark Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R +44.271
15 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW BMW M 1000 RR +45.068
16 Tito Rabat FRA Puccetti Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR +45.969
17 Hafizh Syahrin MAL MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R +47.420
18 Ilya Mikhalchik UKR BMW Motorrad BMW M 1000 RR +1m >
19 Leandro Mercado ARG MIE Racing Team Honda CBR1000RR-R +1m >
20 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac VerdNatura Kawasaki ZX-10RR +1m >
DNF Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha Yamaha R1  
DNF Gabriele Ruiu ITA BMax Racing BMW M 1000 RR  
DNF Philipp Oettl ESP Team GoEleven Ducati Panigale V4 R  
DNF Christophe Ponsson FRA Gil Motor Sport Yamaha R1  
DNF Alessandro Delbianco ITA TPR Pedercini Racing Kawasaki ZX-10RR

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