Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport
Rachit Thukral

Misano WSBK: Bautista outduels Razgatlioglu to win again

Bautista started second behind polesitter Razgatlioglu and passed the reigning champion at Turn 11 on the opening lap, only for the Yamaha rider to snatch back the lead a few corners later with a block pass.

This became a trend in the early part of the race with Bautista making multiple successful moves at Turn 3, only for a feisty Razgatlioglu to tuck underneath him at the following right-hander.

It took him until lap 7 of 21 to make the decisive move for victory, with the Spanish rider this time covering off the inside line into Turn 4 to prevent the 25-year-old from making a late lunge.

Razgatlioglu desperately tried to cling on to Bautista’s Ducati for the next part of the race, even receiving an official warning from the stewards for exceeding track limits.

Ultimately, Razgatlioglu had no answer to Bautista’s pace as he cruised to a dominant 7.1s win, bolstering his chances of scoring a maiden title in WSBK.

Third place in the race went to Bautista’s teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who charged from the lower reaches of the top 10 after a difficult Superpole race to round off his home round with a podium - his second of the year.

Rinaldi’s impressive performance pushed Kawasaki star Jonathan Rea down to fourth, the six-time WSBK champion not finishing on the podium for the first time this season, not counting the second Assen race where he was involved in a clash with Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha and retired.

Iker Lecuona finished a strong fifth in the sole remaining Honda after teammate Xavi Vierge suffered a huge crash at Turn 11 on lap 12.

Sixth place went to Andrea Locatelli on the factory Yamaha, while Motocorsa Ducati’s Axel Bassani was once again the top independent rider on a day GRT Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff retired with a crash at Turn 1.

Behind, Alex Lowes finished a disappointing eighth after picking up a long lap penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits, as factory BMW rider Scott Redding led home satellite rider Loris Baz (Bonovo MGM) in ninth.

Race results:

Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap
1 19 Spain Alvaro Bautista Ducati -  
2 1 Turkey Toprak Razgatlioglu Yamaha 7.194 7.194
3 21 Italy Michael Ruben Rinaldi Ducati 11.119 11.119
4 65 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea Kawasaki 14.901 14.901
5 7 Spain Iker Lecuona Honda 18.774 18.774
6 55 Italy Andrea Locatelli Yamaha 20.217 20.217
7 47 Italy Axel Bassani Ducati 21.149 21.149
8 22 United Kingdom Alex Lowes Kawasaki 23.533 23.533
9 45 United Kingdom Scott Redding BMW 29.638 29.638
10 76 France Loris Baz BMW 38.831 38.831
11 5 Germany Philipp Oettli Ducati 40.881 40.881
12 2 Italy Roberto Tamburini Yamaha 41.588 41.588
13 29 San Marino Luca Bernardi Ducati 43.353 43.353
14 50 Ireland Eugene Laverty BMW 43.833 43.833
15 37 Illia Mykhalchyk BMW 43.889 43.889
16 3 Japan Kohta Nozane Yamaha 44.697 44.697
17 53 Spain Tito Rabat Kawasaki 49.375 49.375
18 36 Argentina Leandro Mercado Honda > 1'  
19 52 Czech Republic Oliver Konig Kawasaki > 1'  
  97 Spain Xavi Vierge Honda    
  35 Malaysia Hafizh Syahrin Honda    
  25 Italy Alessandro Del Bianco Kawasaki    
  16 Italy Gabriele Ruiu BMW    
  31 United States Garrett Gerloff Yamaha    
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.