Gordon Ritchie | May 23, 2022
Three different riders are sharing the WorldSBK spoils—unfairly, greedily—between them this year.
Jonathan Rea (65) leads Toprak Razgatlioglu (1) and Alex Lowes en route to a pair of wins at Estoril.
By Gordon Ritchie | Photos by Gold & Goose
It’s called racing, and right now nobody, almost nobody else except Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati), Jonathan Rea (KRT) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) can get a look in at the level the top three are producing every week.
The racing all through was tough and entertaining but the reality is that nobody else got a podium finish at Estoril, May 20-22, except those big three, even though some others were in the silverware fights for a while.
The starting grid got finalized by the Superpole Qualifying session, it was Rea who recorded his first Superpole of 2022 with a 1:35.346 lap, good enough for a new track-best status. Razgatlioglu was only 0.091 seconds behind, having won both opening Superpoles, in Aragon and Assen.
Bautista was third on the grid and in a morale boosting ride for all the “M” members, Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was fourth on the grid. In the first race of the weekend, over 21 laps on Saturday, Bautista had a moment early on and that allowed Rea and Razgatlioglu to break free and gap everyone.
Alvaro Bautista topped race one.
Stuck behind Andrea Locatelli’s well-ridden Yamaha, Bautista had to work hard to get back into contention as the two leaders flew around so close to each other that Rea snagged his front tire on Razgatlioglu’s rear at one stage—luckily to no real damage for either rider.
A mistake from the six-time champion, running wide under braking, saw Bautista through to second. Rea had used up all his tire in the rising temperatures by that stage and had to settle for third.
Up front the accordion effect was in full flow.
Razgatlioglu gapped the following Bautista in the twisty section of the final part of the lap, only for Bautista to make up ground down the straight, then Razgatlioglu would make yards per corner to exit the final turn well in front.
A well-timed effort to stay with the Turkish rider in the last sector saw Bautista get close enough, and be experienced enough, to get an ideal drive out of the very last corner and easily pass the frustrated Razgatlioglu, to win by 0.126 seconds.
Rea had to console himself with a podium place and a new lap record, on lap four, a 1:36.204 that would last beyond the next two races.
Andrea Locatelli was fourth on his factory Yamaha, top HRC rider Xavi Vierge placed fifth, with his teammate Iker Lecuona sixth.
The Sunday morning Superpole race, over 10 laps as usual, was held in nearly damp and changeable track conditions that became almost fully dry at the end.
Rea and Razgatlioglu offered up a real scrapping show again, with Rea losing out on the lead and then losing ground after Razgatlioglu passed him under braking, pushing him onto the damp fringes of T1.
That should have been it, but a strange last-lap mistake in the chicane from Razgatlioglu saw him completely lose the front, only to save it again and go wide. For Rea, it was the ideal opportunity and he barreled past. The two riders came very close to contact, once again, as Razgatlioglu regained composure and grip. Recent memories of race two at Assen were inescapable, but finally inapplicable this time.
A margin of victory of just 0.174 for Rea, with Toprak second and Bautista eventually third, despite some heavy early pressure from Lecuona.
Locatelli was fifth, Alex Lowes (KRT) sixth.
The final race of the weekend in the biggest class of all was fought out between the Big Three again and the forceful Alex Lowes (KRT), running confidently on a bike that was turning better than on day one.
He would not last the final pace after the top trio broke away, but neither would pre-race potential favorite for three wins, Razgatlioglu, by the time it came to fight for the win itself.
Up front it was eventually a showdown between Rea and Bautista.
Rea had to have two goes at passing the red bike on the final lap.
When Bautista gave him a chance in a slow left, Rea planted his bike in the correct place, and on the blocking line, to prevent Bautista from cutting back on him.
Rea then nearly lost it completely as he was so hard on the final corner exit gas, but he rode the slip and spin and took the win.
Bautista was too far behind to close in enough across the line, despite Rea’s final scare and his Ducati’s power advantage.
Rea won by 0.194 seconds, but it was his second strong victory of the day, coming out on top on Sunday in rider-to-rider fights with his two main rivals.
Locatelli was fifth, Lecuona sixth after running the whole race with no front fender, which had fallen off on the sighting lap.
Garrett Gerloff, GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, crashed out of the weekend’s racing. The American rider topped FP1 and was in the top three going into Saturday before a big highside at turn 13 sent him tumbling through the gravel. He suffered a deep wound on his left knee. Gerloff was on a run of laps in FP3 when the crash happened and although he was able to get to his feet, further assessments at the medical center ruled the Texan out for the rest of the weekend. “It’s such a shame to have been ruled out after the crash I had this morning [Saturday] in FP3,” he said. “The only positive note is that I haven’t broken anything. We were fast on Friday, and I had a good feeling with the bike. We could have done something really good here in Estoril. I’m really sorry for the team, but now I will just focus on getting better and better to come back stronger.”
American Garrett Gerloff crashed during practice and was ruled out for the weekend.
In the championship standings Bautista has 161 points, Rea 144 and Razgatlioglu 109. Rea has five race wins, Bautista four. Razgatliglu? None… not yet at least.
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Yamaha) took pole in the WorldSSP class (at a record pace of 1:39.046), to nobody’s surprise as his dominance grows each week in an otherwise entirely open series this year.
In race one, after three other riders had a go at leading—Jules Cluzel (GMT94) and Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti) and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Yamaha)—the Swiss went through to take the win by over three seconds from another top Yamaha rider Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros).
Dominique Aegerter won both Supersport races.
Third place in the opener went to Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Ducati), on a weekend where the Ducatis got three percent extra throttle opening to rebalance things a little against the 600cc fours. But it was in general not a happy first Estoril Raceday day for the Next Generation bikes, with Oncu finishing fourth and only the fifth-placed Federico Caricasulo (Althea Ducati) reaching close to the front on another “new” model. The only two non-600cc fours inside the top 11 places were those two Ducatis.
It was very different in WorldSSP race two, when the slightly iffy track conditions and the odd gossamer thin droplets of rain showed up on occasion. Passes were flying in every corner with vast swings of fortune, front to back and side-to-side.
Eventually Aegerter made the race his own with superior pace late on, but an old WorldSSP face, Kyle Smith (VFT Yamaha), put himself into second place, helped by the tricky conditions he can manage so well. He had been 17th on the grid.
It was a very tough race for Baldassarri who had to attack and defend all at once, only just keeping Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s Yari Montella behind at the flag. He was third but second would have been better with Aegerter way out in front.
Oncu, another leader for a time, was fifth, but all the fighting for the podium places included the suddenly competitive Oli Bayliss, who would fight his way to sixth, in confident fashion. The leading groups was a concertina of riders all through.
In the post Estoril points, Aegerter has 145, Baldassarri 101, Race Two faller Bulega 72.
RACE 1
- Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam)
- Jonathan Rea (Kzw)
- Andrea Locatelli (Yam)
- Xavi Vierge (Hon)
SUPERPOLE RACE
- Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam)
- Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
- Iker Lecuona (Hon)
- Andrea Locatelli (Yam)
RACE 2
- Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
- Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam)
- Alex Lowes (Kaw)
- Andrea Locatelli (Yam)
Friday
WorldSBK
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) led the WorldSBK hopefuls in fine style after one day of action at Estoril, gapping second-placed qualifier Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) by 0.173 seconds.
Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) was the only rider in the competing field who relied on his FP1 time for his final position, going third fastest overall after leading the morning session.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was fourth, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) fifth, having been in a lowly 14th in the morning session.
Razgatlioglu made the early running at Estoril as he attempts to get his title charge back on track.
Estoril proved again a good track for the Yamaha riders, as Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) secured an overnight top six finish.
Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) was the best Honda rider today, seventh, with his team-mate Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) ninth.
Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was top BMW rider, in eighth place.
The last slot inside the top ten went to Independent Kawasaki rider Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) – ahead of official KRT competitor Alex Lowes by one place.
Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 12th.
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) fell in FP1 and suffered a nasty ‘neck fracture’ of his right humorous, near where the top of the femur meets the hip socket.
2022 Portuguese WorldSBK Results—Friday
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
1:36.290s |
| 2 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.173s |
| 3 |
Garrett Gerloff |
(Yam) |
+ 0.282 |
| 4 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.791s |
| 5 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 0.899s |
WorldSSP
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) demonstrated his early dominance as he finished 0.555 seconds ahead of the next nearest rider Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) on the opening day of WorldSSP practice at Estoril.
Despite the already proven speed of some of the ‘Next Generation’ WorldSSP entries in 2022, five Yamaha R6 riders led the early pace, with team-mates Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) third and fourth fastest, respectively.
Aegerter is flying high at Estoril.
Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) saw his early season strong form continue in fifth place, after two dry but blustery sessions.
In sixth place in the timesheets, Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) was the first Ducati rider home on Friday, followed by the official Panigale V2 entry from Nicolo Beluga (Aruba Racing Ducati).
Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) was eighth, with the top Kawasaki of Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) ninth and the best Triumph, ridden by Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS), tenth.
The best MV Agusta belonged to Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR) in 15th place.
Although still recovering from a leg fracture Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing Kawasaki) was 14th fastest of the 32 riders in Portugal.
2022 Portuguese WorldSSP Results—Friday
| 1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
1:39.806s |
| 2 |
Lorenzo Baldassarri |
(Yam) |
+ 0.555s |
| 3 |
Jules Cluzel |
(Yam) |
+ 0.695s |
| 4 |
Andy Verdoia |
(Yam) |
+ 0.731s |
| 5 |
Glenn van Straalen |
(Yam) |
+ 0.801s |
For more WorldSBK news and result, click here
