WSBK Superbike Misano Course SP: Rinaldi confirms his domination, Rea 3rd

The Ducati rider led a methodical race to gradually move up the rankings and remain undefeated for the moment this weekend. He will start from pole position in Race 2.

After a final test gallop from early morning during the warm-up, which confirmed the good form of the Ducatis and in particular Michael Ruben Rinaldi, the Superbike riders sharpened their weapons during the Race Superpole, the start of which was given at around 11 a.m.

Introduced in 2019 with the idea of ​​spicing up the spectacle in the category, this ten-lap sprint awards points to the first nine drivers classified according to its own scale (12 for the winner, 9 for his runner-up, 7 for third, and so on until ninth place).

The interest of this Superpole Race also lies in the fact that its results determine the hierarchy of the first three rows of the grid with a view to Race 2. Under these conditions, we better understand the importance of this additional event and the desire of the various participants to appear well there.

 

Summary of the results of the 2021 edition:

WSBK Superbike Misano	June 2019	June 2021
FP1	1'36.029 Jonathan Rea	1'34.848 Toprak Razgatlioglu
FP2	1'36.021 Michael van der Mark	1'34.334 Michael Ruben Rinaldi
FP3	1'46.484 Loris Baz	1'34.018 Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Super poles	1'34.596 Jonathan Rea	1'33.416 Jonathan Rea
Race 1	Rea, Sykes, Bautista	Rinaldi, Razgatlioglu, Rea
Warm Up	1'35.814 Jonathan Rea	1'33.774 Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Superpole race	Bautista, Lowes, Haslam	Rinaldi, Razgatlioglu, Rea
Race 2	Rea, Razgatlioglu, Haslam
All time lap record	1'34.596 Jonathan Rea	1'33.416 Jonathan Rea

 

Razgatlioglu quickest to leave

At the beginning, it was Toprak Razgatlioglu who made the holeshot by diving inside Jonathan Rea, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi jumped from his second row to get the better of his teammate Scott Redding. The winner of Race 1 was quick to raise his voice to pass Rea in the second round and put Razgatlioglu in his sights, with the firm intention of achieving a second success in a row at Misano.

The fight between the two men was in this sense Homeric, each trying to make the best use of the strengths of their equipment: Rinaldi the top speed of his Ducati, Razgatlioglu the braking power. The two men even adopted divergent trajectories, to say the least, and their duel lasted until the sixth round.

 

 

There, Rinaldi pulled an ace out of his sleeve with a sublime and improbable maneuver on the outside of turn 11. From then on, the Ducati rider led a solo end of the race, finishing ahead of the Turkish rider and Rea, the three men thus offering at the finish a podium carbon copy of that of Race 1.

Scott Redding, for his part, was unable to do better than fourth place, and never posed a real threat to Rea. He is ahead of Alex Lowes, fifth, who finishes ahead of Axel Bassani, the rookie author once again of a superb performance on his home soil.

 

 

Good comeback from Gerloff and good return from Laverty

Tom Sykes took seventh place ahead of Garrett Gerloff, who made an excellent comeback from the back of the grid, having been unable to set a single time during qualifying due to a fall. Andrea Locatelli and Álvaro Bautista complete the top 10, ahead of Leon Haslam and Kohta Nozane, who reproduced their epic duel from the day before, this time to the advantage of the Briton.

Back in the race after his withdrawal yesterday following a major accident during FP3, Eugene Laverty put in a very good performance by finishing this Superpole Race in 13th place, ahead of Tito Rabat and Isaac Viñales. Christophe Ponsson narrowly missed the opportunity to score a second point this season, with a 16th place under the checkered flag.

On the disappointment side, we will note the early retirement of Chaz Davies, victim of a fall at the second turn and who thus marks his second retirement in as many races so far this weekend. Same outcome for Michael van der Mark, who made a mistake in the fifth loop, and for Lucas Mahias.

 

 

Superbike – Misano – SP Race Results:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com