Saturday round up and results from Donington WorldSBK

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Five – Donington Park – Saturday

WorldSBK Superpole

Six-time world champion Jonathan Rea took pole position with a time of 1’26.080, improving on the track record set in 2017 by former team-mate Tom Sykes (1’26.641) by more than half a second. All the riders used the SCQ solution at the rear which the Northern Irishman paired with the front A0674 SC1 development tyre.  Alex Lowes made it a Kawasaki 1-2 but was using the standard SC1 at the front. 

Rounding out the front row was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), and there was an encouraging fourth place for Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) after benefitting from shadowing Rea on his best laps. 

Championship leader Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was fifth on the grid ahead of team-mate Michael Rinaldi and lead Honda rider Iker Lecuona.

WorldSBK Superpole

WorldSBK Race One

Unanimous rider choice for the rear tyre used in Race One: everyone opted for the SCX in the warm conditions. Choices for the front varied with Rea, Lowes, Redding, and Bautista opting for the A0674 SC1 development tyre, whereas Razgatlioglu and Rinaldi decided to rely on the standard SC1. 

Defending world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu had an outstanding start from the third spot on the grid, moving into the lead straight away and holding onto it undisturbed all the way to the end of the race, finishing with an advantage of over six seconds ahead of Rea and his Kawasaki (second) and more than nine seconds ahead of Lowes’ Kawasaki (third). 

This was the Turk’s second win of the season after the Superpole race he won in Misano. Worth a mention is the spectacular battle between Rea and Bautista for second position which came to an end on the 16th lap when the Spaniard crashed out on turn 12.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P1

“I’m really happy today for my first full race win this year – also it was an unbelievable race because Johnny is seven seconds behind me! I see this and at the finish line I try again a winning stoppie! Today I’m really happy, for two days my team has made a huge effort because we try to find the set-up for the race – thank you all very much for the effort. I ride today really relaxed like last year, I’m feeling the bike is much better and I am riding much better, so we will see what happens tomorrow. After becoming World Champion, I have also another dream: one race weekend, to get three wins. I will try in both races tomorrow to win, everyone is fast but I try again!”

Jonathan Rea – P2

“The Superpole lap was incredible. I got so close to a 1’25 lap that – as much as I was happy and convinced that it was going to be pole position – I was a little bit gutted that I didn’t get a 1’25.9. Nicer than anything is the crowd today. I saw so many people around the track on my sighting lap. That is so nice to see and thanks to all the fans for coming out. In the beginning of the race it was a little bit of a mess, to be honest, for the first few laps. I tried to get track position as fast as I could. I really trusted myself to go to the front. I didn’t see that Toprak would have that kind of rhythm. If I were to do that race again I would have just focused on staying behind him, letting him do the leading job. I compromised myself going into the chicane, and in the first lap I lost track position. Then I was fighting. When I did get track position I had Alvaro dive-bombing me every time, at the end of the back straight into the chicane, or on the brakes into the Melbourne Loop. I felt like, on my own, I could be OK. Then when Alvaro went down Toprak had much better rhythm and I had nothing left. I really struggled at the end with the rear. But to get 500 Kawasaki podiums is really nice. I know I contributed to a large quantity of them but it is something to be really proud of as a manufacturer to have 500 WorldSBK podiums, especially in today’s era when all the manufacturers are competitive.”

Alex Lowes – P3

“It has taken a while to get my first podium of the year but it feels good, especially to get it here at Donington. In Superpole, that was one of the best laps I have ever done. I enjoyed it so much. When I saw 1’26.3 I was like ‘that’s nice’ because I was expecting 1’26.7/26.8. So I really enjoyed that. In the race, when the temperature got up – and even thought it may only go up 10 degrees on the track – we seemed to struggle in comparison to the others. I didn’t have the speed I expected to through the race but I kept it to the end. I had a good battle with Scott Redding. He was smoking the rear tyre and I thought I was probably going to have more grip then him in a couple of laps. So in the end I had more grip, but it was a nice battle. I was able to save a little bit of tyre for the last few laps. It’s nice to be on the podium. Some small changes for tomorrow and I hope to do a little bit better.”

Michael Rinaldi – P6

“It’s a shame because we had the chance to stay with the group fighting for the podium until the end. Unfortunately, during the race, I had to deal with two issues that did not allow me to keep the race pace I had during practice. So I preferred to finish the race without taking unnecessary risks. Now we will analyze the data to solve the problems we had. However, I remain confident for the two races tomorrow.”

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Garrett Gerloff – P7

“The day started pretty well, we made changes that worked immediately. So, we finished FP3 in first place, but unfortunately we weren’t able to continue that pace in Superpole. It wasn’t a disaster, but not as good as I expected. The start was awesome, but I got stuck after a couple of corners and lost a bit of time. From then on I tried to stay with the guys in front but I couldn’t make as many passes as I wanted. The temperatures today were really high, but we learned some things and we’re ready for tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P8

“A day of two sides – I’m quite happy and want to say thanks to the team for the great work they’ve done on the bike following an issue we had yesterday. We resolved that and found a good setup for the bike which allowed me to set a competitive time in qualifying despite a small mistake on my flying lap and find good race pace. I started the race quite well from the clean side of the track and was able to run top five in the first laps. Unfortunately, though, I’m really suffering with arm pump in my right arm this weekend, so strong that I was not sure I could even finish the race. After ten laps I realised I just had to manage the situation and try to reach the line. I almost made it to seventh, but Gerloff overtook me on the very last lap. I couldn’t fend him off, but I think we can be happy with the work we are doing as a team.”

Andrea Locatelli – P10

“A difficult race compared to normal – the feeling was not coming. It is not an easy track but I don’t understand why this happened yet. We worked a lot with the set-up and the feeling with the bike is great but I think we need to work more in my electronics setting because it wasn’t working for me today. It’s a little bit sad, because I trust in myself, I trust in the team, I trust in everyone because we work very well every weekend. But here we have lost something, I know we can do much better so we need to understand what we can do for tomorrow to try to improve, to return to a good position and fight more in front. It’s important to close the gap because to finish 30 seconds behind Toprak for me is not normal. We will work tonight to see what we can do, and tomorrow I hope to improve a lot.”

Xavi Vierge – P13

“We made some progress in qualifying but not enough and starting from the sixth row made for a difficult race, right from the outset. Anyway, I fought hard every single lap to obtain the best possible result and gain as much experience as possible for tomorrow. We know where we need to focus in order to find some more rear grip and be able to fight with the others. We will work towards this target this afternoon and, as always, I want to thank the team for their hard work. After running a full race, I’m pleased to say that I’m feeling OK with my hand after the injury and this is positive.”

Alvaro Bautista – DNF

“I am very sorry for the crash, but I have to say that it was a sudden thing. The feeling was good, and I wasn’t on the limit. Unfortunately, I also made a small mistake because of the many circuit bumps, especially in that corner. These things can happen, but certainly, this fall doesn’t change my approach and doesn’t dent our confidence ahead of tomorrow’s races.”

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Championship Standings

WorldSSP Race One

Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed a thrilling victory after a race-long battle with title rival Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) in a shortened, 12-lap encounter after a red flag at Donington Park for the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

The race was red flagged after the first lap of racing following an incident for Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) at Turn 4, with debris and his bike in the middle of the track. The incident also involved Unai Orradre (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP) who had nowhere to go, and clipped the back of Sebestyen’s bike, with Orradre coming off his bike at Turn 5.

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) had been fighting for the lead of the race on Lap 2 of 12 in the shortened encounter but lost the front of his Ducati machine at Turn 11 and crashed out of Race 1, allowing Baldassarri to take the lead of the race. Aegerter was able to battle his way up second place before he closed down the gap to Baldassarri and he made his move on Lap 8 at the Turn 11 Melbourne Loop and, while Aegerter was able to withstand Baldassarri’s challenge, the pair were separated by just 0.413s at the end of the 12-lap race.

It means Aegerter has claimed 25 podiums and 18 wins in his 30 WorldSSP races, with the reigning Champion just one shy of the all-time winning streak in World Supersport; previously set by Andrea Locatelli in 2020. Aegerter will have a chance to equal this in Sunday’s Race 2. Baldassarri has racked up eight podiums, and his sixth consecutive, in his rookie WorldSSP campaign and it is the sixth time Aegerter has won with Baldassarri in second place.

After showing strong pace throughout the UK Round, Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) battled his way through the field to claim his first podium in 2022 and his first for Ducati, holding off fellow Italian rider Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) by just a tenth of a second in a thrilling last-lap battle. That battle had also involved Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) but the Dutchman highsided out of Turn 10, the exit of the Foggy Esses, on the final lap of the race.

Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed fifth place after he initially getting into the lead of the race at the start before dropping back. Oncu was two seconds clear of the Dynavolt Triumph duo of Stefano Manzi and Hannes Soomer who came home in sixth and seventh respectively with Triumph scoring a strong points haul on home soil.

Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) took his best result of the 2022 season as he finished in eighth place, ahead of wildcard Simon Jespersen (CM Racing) with the Danish rider fighting his way up from 24th to finish ninth; his best result of his 2022 season as he makes sporadic appearances. Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) claimed his third consecutive points finish with tenth place.

Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) finishing in 11th place, just two tenths behind Brenner, as he continues showing strong pace in his rookie campaign. The Australian finishing around a second ahead of Mattia Casadei (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in 12th as the Italian continues to stand in for the recovering Niki Tuuli. 

Oli Bayliss – P11

“My first race at Donington didn’t go too badly. We lost a little ground in the first four or five laps, but I was then able to get into a good rhythm and I felt comfortable on the bike. If we’re able to stick with the group up ahead in the first part of the race, I’m sure we can do more tomorrow.”

Leonardo Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was 13th ahead of Kyle Smith (VFT Racing) and Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse); the Turkish rider claiming a point despite a Lap 1 incident at Turn 11. He just fended off the challenge of British rider Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) in 16th on his comeback from injury.

Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) was 18th despite a Lap 1 incident at Turn 11, while Isaac Vinales (D34G Racing) battled his way up from the back of the grid to 20th place. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) retired from the race at the end of Lap 4 after he highsided on the exit of the left-hander hairpin at Turn 12, known as Goddards, with the Frenchman taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. At the medical centre, Cluzel was declared unfit with fourth and fifth metatarsal fractures on his right foot, a fracture of the calcaneus on his left foot and a left shoulder dislocation.

Ben Currie (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) retired from the race after completting 10 laps, while Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) crashed out at Turn 4 on Lap 8. Harry Truelove (ColinAppleyard/Macadam-Yamaha) did not start Race 1.

Ben Currie

“Gutted I had to withdraw mid race today. I came from 26th on the grid, and was running a strong 13th in the group for 7th. Massive thanks to my team motozooracingteam for rebuilding my bike in time, after I destroyed it in qualifying. I’ll dig in tomorrow to get a result.“

WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Standings

Yamaha R3 bLUcRU  Race One Results

Yamaha R3 bLUcRU  Race Two Results

Yamaha R3 bLUcRU  Championship Standings

Donington Park WorldSBK Schedule
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