Gordon Ritchie | July 16, 2023
Sunday WorldSBK Race Two
The final Imola WorldSBK race was reduced to 15 laps due to concerns about the punishing heat and humidity the riders would have to face around the intense Imola layout. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) took advantage of a first lap fall from championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to take his second win of the day, and his first ‘feature’ race win of the season.
Bautista fell on the entry to the second part of the Tamburello Chicane on lap one, drawing gasps of disbelief and opening up a world of possibilities for his rivals.
One time race leader, after pushing to the top spot with eight laps to go, proved to eventual second placed rider Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati). His sixth career podium was his second runner-up spot in WorldSBK, and it could have been a win except for the pure talent and determination of the more experienced Razgatlioglu.
Razgatlioglu pulled ground back on Bautista in the championship with a crucial win in race two.
In third place was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team). Despite not having the same drive available exiting corners as the leading duo, he was still a clear third ahead of the chasing Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team).
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) placed fifth, while a brilliant ride from BSB Champion Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) saw him finish sixth, 12 seconds from the race win.
Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) won a personal battle with Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for seventh place.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) was ninth and Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) tenth.
Six riders did not finish.
In the championship points, Bautista is now 70 ahead of Razgatlioglu, 391 to 321. Locatelli is still third, with 208, Rea is fourth on 201 and Bassani is fifth on 179.
2023 Imola WorldSBK Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Axel Bassani |
(Duc) |
+ 1.996s |
| 3 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 2.458s |
| 4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 6.111s |
| 5 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 11.154s |
WorldSBK Superpole Race
At one of his favourite circuits Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) found the pace and the will to win, for his third Superpole race victory of the season.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) would finish second, still trying for the win until he realised Razgatlioglu would not be denied, losing only three points in the championship race with one more race to take part in at Imola.
Third was the front runner for five laps, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team), holding off the close attentions of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) by just a couple of tenths.
Bautista had passed Razgatlioglu on lap five, and then took the lead one lap later.
Razgatlioglu was right on the edge but kept it the right side up for the Superpole race win.
He would hold it for three laps, as Razgatlioglu struggled to get past Locatelli for a short time, visibly frustrated to not be able to get to Bautista out in front.
Once behind Bautista he closed in and passed to lead across the line for the final two laps, winning by 0.244 seconds.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made it past Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) for fifth place.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) placed seventh, just behind Bassani, one place up on Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati).
Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) completed the top ten, with Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) 11th.
2023 Imola WorldSBK Results—Superpole Race
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.244s |
| 3 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 1.720s |
| 4 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 1.969ss |
| 5 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 3.341s |
Sunday WorldSSP Race Two
Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) scored a famous home victory in the WorldSSP Class, in a race that was red-flagged one lap from its planned 17 lap duration, after a two rider crash at the final Variante Alta chicane.
Manzi eventually got away to a clear advantage over the pressure generated by second place rider Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), with runaway championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) in a final third place, having lost close contact with Schrötter.
A strong home round for the MV Agusta riders saw Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR) take fourth place.
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) was fifth and another vee-twin rider, Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was sixth.
Phillip Island podium finisher Nicolas Spinelli (VFT Racing WEBIKE Yamaha) was the second Yamaha rider home, in seventh place.
Stefano Manzi was out for a Sunday ride at home for the Supersport race two win.
A trio of Kawasaki riders completed the top ten places in the opening WorldSSP race of the Imola weekend – Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki), Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and the luckless Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki).
Huertas was unlucky to collide with the stricken Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) in the final chicane of the penultimate lap.
Tuuli was incredibly lucky to escape almost unscathed after Huerta’s front wheel unavoidably hit his crash helmet (in the process of being knocked off by Tuuli’s fallen machine). The closely following De Rosa also made contact with Tuuli’s crash helmet as he took avoiding action, making the whole incident even more scary. Tuuli was trapped under his own bike for a time as the red flags came out to stop the race for good.
Tuuli is to be medically reviewed on Sunday, before he is allowed to ride. He also suffered a right wrist contusion in the crash.
In the championship points, Manzi trimmed, if not quite harshly cut, Bulega’s lead to 46 points, with one more Imola WorldSSP race coming up.
2023 Imola WorldSSP Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
+ 7.188s |
| 3 |
Yari Montella |
(Duc) |
+ 9.804s |
| 4 |
Adrian Huertas |
(Kaw) |
+ 15.370s |
| 5 |
Raffaele De Rosa |
(Duc) |
+ 17.370s |
Saturday WorldSSP Race One
Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) scored a famous home victory in the WorldSSP Class, in a race that was red-flagged one lap from its planned 17-lap duration, after a two-rider crash at the final Variante Alta chicane.
Manzi eventually got away to a clear advantage over the pressure generated by second-place rider Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), with runaway championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) in a final third place, having lost close contact with Schrötter.
A strong home round for the MV Agusta riders saw Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR) take fourth place.
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) was fifth and another vee-twin rider, Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was sixth.
It was a home gold medal for Stefano Mazni at Imola in WorldSSP race one.
Phillip Island podium finisher Nicolas Spinelli (VFT Racing WEBIKE Yamaha) was the second Yamaha rider home, in seventh place.
A trio of Kawasaki riders completed the top ten places in the opening WorldSSP race of the Imola weekend – Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki), Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and the luckless Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki).
Huertas was unlucky to collide with the stricken Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) in the final chicane of the penultimate lap.
Tuuli was incredibly lucky to escape almost unscathed after Huerta’s front wheel unavoidably hit his crash helmet (in the process of being knocked off by Tuuli’s fallen machine). The closely following De Rosa also made contact with Tuuli’s crash helmet as he took avoiding action, making the whole incident even more scary. Tuuli was trapped under his own bike for a time as the red flags came out to stop the race for good.
Tuuli is to be medically reviewed on Sunday, before he is allowed to ride. He also suffered a right wrist contusion in the crash.
In the championship points, Manzi trimmed, if not quite harshly cut, Bulega’s lead to 46 points, with one more Imola WorldSSP race coming up.
2023 Imola WorldSSP Results—Race One
| 1 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
| 2 |
Marcel Schroetter |
(MV) |
| 3 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
| 4 |
Bahattin Sofuoglu |
(MV) |
| 5 |
Yari Montella |
(Duc) |
Saturday WorldSBK Race One
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had some tricky moments in the first 19-lap race at Imola but overcame them all to pass long-time leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) and ease away in the final few laps to win by 3.672 seconds.
The Imola opener witnessed Alvaro’s 17th win in 19 races so far this season; second for Toprak was his 100th career podium ride in WorldSBK.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) made progress from seventh on the grid to take a podium, although he was unable to keep Bautista behind him beyond the early laps.
Bautista hunted down, Razgatlioglu for the race one win.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) was a committed early race leader but was finally overcome by the championship’s traditional big three riders and had to settle for fourth place, 13.5 seconds back from Bautista.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) came through from eighth on the grid to fifth, despite his injured ankle.
In sixth place, and the top independent rider on the day, was Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati). With early podium rider Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) seventh, there were four Ducatis in the top seven places at Ducati’s almost literal home circuit.
Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and
Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rounded out the top ten places. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha) was 11th in his first WorldSBK ride at Imola.
Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) was sixth on the grid but faded to finish 15th, scoring one point in a race where there were eight non-finishers.
2023 Imola WorldSSP Results—Race One
| 1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 3.672s |
| 3 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 7.847s |
| 4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 13.543s |
| 5 |
M Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 15.898s |
Saturday WorldSBK Superpole
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) secured the top spot in Superpole qualifying after a short and sharp 15 minute session in which several top riders would lose their best times, simply because of track limit infractions (a few) or yellow flags (very many).
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) was finally ranked second on the second factory Yamaha, with another local rider Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) third.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) lost out on a front-row start because of a yellow flag and will start off the second row, in fourth place.
Toprak topped Superpole ahead of his teammate Locatelli.
Another good ride for Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) saw him fifth while an outstanding run from BSB champion Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) placed him sixth.
Ray’s top six placement saw Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) only seventh.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was fast but also penalised for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when a yellow flag came out at the very last chicane.
Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was ninth and Donington podium rider Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) tenth.
2023 Imola WorldSBK Results—Superpole
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
1:45.959s |
| 2 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.058s |
| 3 |
Axel Bassani |
(Duc) |
+ 0.103s |
| 4 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.186s |
| 5 |
Scott Redding |
(BMW) |
+ 0.538s |
Friday WorldSBK
For a rider who was unsure if he would be able to ride at all before entering this round Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) put in a heroic day one performance to promote himself to the top spot at his home round. He entered the Friday post practice media scrum sporting a crutch and a slow limp, but the single best time of all on day one.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was a decent bet for the final leading time until Rinaldi pulled out a 0.151 second advantage.
The second practice session saw no less than three red flag incidents, none serious, but all causing trackside hazards at this old-school narrow circuit.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi showed no ill-signs of health with the Friday fastest time in WorldSBK.
Third overall, despite an early FP2 clash-and-crash with his team-mate Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW).
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) may have lost 250rpm from the top of his engine’s performance for this round, like every other Ducati rider under the latest technical rules, but he was still fourth fastest.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) placed fifth, one position up on his team-mate Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team), who had been the fastest rider in the morning session.
A slow crash in the chicane for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) played a part in him finishing seventh fastest, on a set-up which was not really working the way he and his team had initially hoped.
World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had a tough time, at a circuit that is definitely not his favourite, as he finished eighth.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) and Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten. WorldSBK rookie Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) was a strong 11th, with many more experienced riders behind him in the overall rankings.
2023 Imola WorldSBK Results—Friday
| 1 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
1:47.128s |
| 2 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.151s |
| 3 |
Garrett Gerloff |
(BMW) |
+ 0.326s |
| 4 |
Axel Bassani |
(Duc) |
+ 0.420s |
| 5 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.464s |
Friday WorldSSP
Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) set a succession of fastest laps in FP2 to head Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) by no less than 0.745 seconds at an overheated Imola on Friday afternoon.
Thanks to his inspired morning lap time Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) was third fastest, with the best MV Agusta belonging to Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR), in fourth place overall.
Federico Caricasulo came out swinging in WorldSSP for the Friday fastest time.
World Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) was fifth.
Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) ended his first day in Italy in sixth place.
Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) scored seventh place.
Imola wild card, Luca Ottaviani (Extreme Racing Service MV AGusta) was eighth, recent podium finisher Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) ninth and the first Triumph rider in the Friday rankings, Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) tenth.
2023 Imola WorldSSP Results—Friday
| 1 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Duc) |
1:51.257s |
| 2 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
+ 0.745s |
| 3 |
Adrian Huertas |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.753s |
| 4 |
Bahattin Sofuoglu |
(MV) |
+ 0.760s |
| 5 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
+ 0.787s |
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