WorldSBK Misano: Dominant Razgatlioglu Three-Peats in Misano

WorldSBK Misano marks round four of the 2024 World Superbike Championship. Six weeks after the Dutch Round in Assen, the Emilia Romagna Round sees Alvaro Bautista arrive as the championship leader, but Toprak Razgatlioglu was fastest in the test.

Overview

• Race 2 - Razgatlioglu completes a perfect Misano treble

• Superpole Race - Razgatlioglu dominates Superpole Race as Bautista crashes out

• Race 1 - Razgatlioglu dominant to beat Bulega, Bautista in Misano Race 1

• Superpole - Razgatlioglu takes Misano pole after Bulega's best time cancelled

• Friday Practice - Razgatlioglu fastest on day one but crashes in FP2

• Schedule - All the times you need to keep up with the action this weekend.

• 2023 - Bautista scores another treble but Razgatlioglu comes close in the Superpole Race

Race 2

Toprak Razgatlioglu was dominant yet again on his way to a third career treble in WorldSBK.

In Race 2 at Misano, the Turkish rider made a poor start and fifth entering the back straight off turn six. But he made two positions when passing Andrea Locatelli in turns nine and 10 on the first lap, as Andrea Iannone ran wide at the same moment. Then, he passed Alex Lowes in turn 14, and only Nicolo Bulega stood between him and the lead.

Bulega’s lead was over a second and it grew over the next few laps to around 1.5 seconds, but a flurry of fastest laps from Razgatlioglu brought him to the rear wheel of the Ducati rider by lap seven, and passed him on lap eight.

Bulega had no response, and simply had to watch the #54 BMW disappear to the tune of five seconds up the road at his home race. Razgatlioglu’s win confirmed a perfect weekend for the 2021 World Champion, having taken pole position and won all three races. He also leaves Emilia-Romagna as the leader of the riders’s standings.

Bulega remained comfortably, if frustratedly, in second place until the end, and finished four seconds ahead of Alvaro Bautista, who beat Alex Lowes to third.

Lowes himself took fourth, while Andrea Locatelli was fifth and the best Yamaha, and Danilo Petrucci rounded out the top six.

Axel Bassani was seventh on the second Kawasaki, while Remy Gardner took eighth place, Iker Lecuona was ninth for Honda, and Jonathan Rea rounded out the top 10.

Full WorldSBK results from the Race 2 in Misano are below.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | Race 2 Result

Superpole Race

Toprak Razgatlioglu took victory in the WorldSBK Superpole Race in Misano, winning by over a second ahead of Nicolo Bulega.

Bulega took the lead on lap one after Razgatlioglu made the holeshot, passing the Turkish rider at turn 14 after he'd passed Alex Lowes in turn 11 on the opening tour as well. But Razgatlioglu wasn't shaken off by the Italian, and instead he fought back on lap four at turn eight. That, as it turned out, as the race for the win over. 

Ducati's race got worse on lap five, when Alvaro Bautista crashed out of fourth place while chasing Alex Lowes. He got back on to finish 17th, but it was costly ground lost to Razgatlioglu in the championship. 

Bulega, at least, held on to second place, while Alex Lowes took third for Kawasaki. Behind were three Italians, with Andrea Locatelli ahead of Andrea Iannone and Axel Bassani. Iker Lecuona put his Honda in an impressive seventh, ahead of Jonathan Rea and Danilo Petrucci who took the final point in ninth. Dominique Aegerter completed the top 10.

Full WorldSBK results from the Superpole Race in Misano are below.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | Superpole Race Result

Race 1

Toprak Razgatlioglu was commanding in taking victory in WorldSBK Race 1 at Misano, which he did with a margin of almost two seconds.

He did not take the holeshot, but the BMW rider passed Remy Gardner - who did - with 17 laps to go, and didn’t look back.

Both of the factory Ducati riders - Alvaro Bautista and Nicolo Bulega - also made their way through on Gardner, but were over a second behind Razgatlioglu by now. When Bulega passed Bautista with 14 to go, the gap was two seconds, and it barely decreased at all before Razgatlioglu rolled the pace off slightly on the final lap to win by 1.7 seconds.

Bulega was 1.3 ahead of Bautista, who had seven seconds behind him to fourth-placed Andrea Locatelli. Alex Lowes was fifth for Kawasaki, while Gardner ended up sixth, ahead of Andrea Iannone in seventh.

Michael van der Mark was almost 20 seconds behind his teammate in eighth place, while Danilo Petrucci made a decent comeback to WorldSBK action in ninth place after his huge motocross crash in April. Iker Lecuona put Honda in the top 10 thanks to a pass made on Axel Bassani with four laps to go.

Full WorldSBK results from Race 1 in Misano are below.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | Race 1 Result

Superpole

Toprak Razgatlioglu took pole position for WorldSBK Race 1 and the Superpole Race in Misano, after Nicolo Bulega had his best lap cancelled.

Bulega's best effort, a 1:32.221, had him 0.099 seconds ahead of Razgatlioglu when the clock ran out, but the Ducati rider's second-best lap was still good enough for second place. Completing the fornt row is GRT Yamaha's Remy Gardner.

Alex Lowes, a day after securing his future with the new-look Bimota-Kawasaki team, qualified fourth, ahead of reigning champion and current points leader Alvaro Bautista, while Andrea Locatelli was sixth.

Andrea Iannone, Sam Lowes, and Dominique Aegerter are on the third row, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi completed the qualifying top 10. Rinaldi is joined by Tito Rabat and Scott Redding on row four.

Full WorldSBK results from Superpole in Misano are below.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | Superpole Result

Friday Practice

Nicolo Bulega was fastest in WorldSBK FP2 at Misano, but Toprak Razgatlioglu secured the best time of the day overall.

That came in FP1 at a 1:33.448, while Bulega's best in FP2 was a 1:33.511. Three other riders - Alvaro Bautista, Remy Gardner, and Andrea Iannone - made laps in the 1:33s, but none with the frequency of either Ducati's Bulega or BMW's Razgatlioglu, both of whom seem to be the riders to beat ahead of Saturday's Superpole session.

Full WorldSBK results from FP1 and FP2 in Misano are below.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | FP2 Result

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | FP1 Result

Schedule

The 2024 WorldSBK season arrives in Misano for the Emilia-Romagna Round with Alvaro Bautista as the championship leader, although Toprak Razgatlioglu is the most victorious rider so far this year with three wins.

The schedule for this weekend follows the same structure as all European WorldSBK rounds, except for the addition of the new women's WorldWCR series, which has its first of six 2024 rounds in Misano this weekend.

The full schedule for the 2024 WorldSBK Emilia-Romagna Round is below, with all times in BST.

2024 WorldSBK Championship | Emilia-Romagna Round | Schedule

2023

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Misano World Circuit, Italy | Superpole Race Results

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Misano World Circuit, Italy | Superpole Race Results

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Misano World Circuit, Italy | Race 1 Results

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Misano World Circuit, Italy | Superpole Results

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