WSBK Emilia-Romagna Round: Double for Rinaldi, Razgatlioglu eyes title

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made the most of his home advantage at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and stormed to victory in Race 1 before doubling up in the Superpole Race.

The weekend was a tale of Rinaldi versus Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) who arranged first and runner-up exclusively among themselves. Razgatlioglu triumphed in Race 2 to claim Yamaha’s first win of the season while Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) completed the podium in all three races.

Razgatlioglu closed down the gap in the championship standings and reduced his disadvantage over Rea, who continues to head the table, to 20 points. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) sits in third, 45 points adrift of the lead.

RACE 1

Although Rea took the holeshot from pole, he was under immediate pressure from Rinaldi who had an exceptional start. Razgatlioglu capitalised on the pair exchanging punches to slide into the lead, but Rinaldi instantly sat him up to claim P1.

The Italian’s pace was strong enough to put a couple of bike lengths between himself and his opponents while the fight for positions became frantic behind him. Rea prevailed to complete the opening lap in second ahead of Redding and Razgatlioglu.

Rea broke and reeled in Rinaldi to form a leading duo with far superior race rhythm. Razgatlioglu shadowed an uncomfortable-looking Redding and claimed him with 17 laps to go. The Ducati rider could not get the power down and struggled at corner entry but rode a clever race to settle down and keep Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) behind him at distance.

Rea was all over Rinaldi’s rear tyre, but his race almost came to a premature end at T1 on Lap 16 when he lost the front and successively the rear of his Kawasaki. The reigning world champion kept the bike on track with his knee and elbow and was sliding for 15 plus metres. In an incredible save, he was back upright and lost only one position.

Now in third, Rea was neither closing in on nor losing ground to Razgatlioglu and eventually settled for the podium spot, undoubtedly with the championship in mind.

Out front, Rinaldi was left in a comfortable lead and brought an empathic home victory over the line – his first on the full-factory Ducati.

A close battle for sixth ended with Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) prevailing over Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who finished top independent rider at his home track, and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).

SUPERPOLE RACE

Razgatlioglu shot into the lead at the lights followed by Rea, Redding and Rinaldi who swiftly executed an aggressive overtake to claim his teammate for P3. Chaz Davies’ (Team GoEleven) race ended in the opening chicane when he made contact with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) at T2 and went down in the gravel.

Rinaldi was on pace and dived down the inside line through Quercia to move past Rea and slot in behind Razgatlioglu. Redding and Lowes clung on to the trio to form a leading group of five while Sykes and Bassani were their closest chasers in sixth and seventh respectively.

Razgatlioglu was late and aggressive on the brakes to keep Rinaldi behind him who, although looking punchy, was not quick enough into the corner to beat the Yamaha. Rea held on to the scrap for the lead, but Redding and Lowes gradually lost touch.

Halfway through the race, Rinaldi got brilliant drive coming out of Tramonto and swept down Razgatliolgu’s inside at Curvone to hit the front.

Razgatlioglu left tyre marks all over the place, pushing hard to stay with the Ducati, but with an advantage of around half a second on his side, Rinaldi bagged his second win of the weekend. Redding had started to reel back in on P3, but the gap was too big already and Rea made it three different manufacturers on the podium.

Further behind, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) had picked his way up the order after starting from the back of the grid due to a crash in qualifying. The American crossed the line in eighth to secure a better start position for Race 2.

RACE 2

Rinaldi held on to P1 from pole, but Razgatlioglu immediately dived down the inside line at T3 and pushed the Ducati and himself wide. Rea was in place to capitalise and swept past them both with Rinaldi lining up second.

The Italian was determined to get to the front and claimed Rea through Quercia on Lap 2 only to lose the position again at Curvone. A lap later, Rinaldi executed a carbon copy of the manoeuvre at Quercia and this time made it stick to stay in the lead.

Razgatlioglu too had strong rhythm and moved past Rea through Tramonto, his sight firmly set on Rinaldi ahead. Redding managed to run with the front trio in the early stages but gradually lost ground as the race progressed.

Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu largely cancelled each other out over the track with the Ducati stronger at corner exit while the Yamaha had an advantage at corner entry. Razgatlioglu eventually caught his opponent by surprise and overtook under braking at Carro on Lap 8.

For the first time on the weekend, Rinaldi looked rattled and had his hands full with Rea who was swarming all over his rear tyre. Razgatlioglu started to escape, but Rinaldi regrouped and consistently closed the gap down again.

However, the double-winner’s riding was getting increasingly untidy and he eventually settled for second, allowing Razgatlioglu to cruise towards Yamaha’s first win of the season untroubled. Rea completed the podium ahead of Redding while Gerloff claimed Lowes in the late stages for fifth.