The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is fast approaching the halfway mark of the season, with five rounds out of 12 done and dusted. The Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” welcomed a crowd of over 70,000 fans and they were all treated to some spectacular racing. Along with that, history was made, big stats achieved and plenty more in this week’s stats round-up.

351 – In the Superpole Race, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) took second and put Yamaha on a 350^th podium in WorldSBK. His second in Race 2 means they’ve featured on 351 podiums in the class.

282,0 – During FP3 and Warm Up, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) set a new top speed record for Misano in WorldSBK at 282,0km/h, beating Ayrton Badovini’s 281,7km/h from back in 2012’s Race 2 for BMW.

258 – 258 straight races in the points for Ducati, equal to the second-best overall streak in WorldSBK history, set by Kawasaki. Ducati themselves hold the absolute record at 344 from Brainerd Race 1, 1991 to Valencia Race 1, 2005.

100 – Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) took his first win of the WorldSSP season and also the 100^th win in WorldSSP for Ten Kate Racing.

46 – Alvaro Bautista’s triple puts him on 46 wins, moving him into fourth in the all-time win rankings in WorldSBK. His next target is the top three, with third currently occupied by Troy Bayliss with 52.

40 – Bautista’s fastest lap in Race 2 was the 40^th of his career, putting him fifth overall in the all-time standings.

27 – Despite being a previous full-time rider in WorldSSP300, Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) became the 27^th different winner in the class with a fine double at home at Misano.

22 – Despite his worst weekend of the year in terms of points, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) extended his points-scoring run to 22, the most of anyone right now on the WorldSBK grid. The absolute biggest streak for this was achieved by Jonathan Rea at 48, from Laguna Seca Race 1, 2018 to Lusail Race 2, 2019.

19 – Two podiums for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) puts him on 19 for his career, 39^th overall in the podium tallies and one shy of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) on 20.

17 – After his three Misano wins, Bautista is on 14 for the season, just three shy of the record of wins in one season, which is 17, held by Doug Polen from 1991 and Jonathan Rea in 2018 and 2019.

15 – Of the 15 races of 2023, Yamaha have taken 15 podiums, their best streak ever.

14 – 14 wins for Alvaro Bautista in 2023 from 15 possible races so far is a new record for the most wins in the same period at the start of the season.

8/5 – The eighth different podium finisher of 2023 and the fifth of his career, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) took a maiden podium in Italy in Race 2. He’s the 11^th different Italian to achieve a Misano podium and the 71^st different rider to achieve at least five WorldSBK podiums.

7 – Seven straight points-scoring finishes for Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), more than any other BMW rider has managed in 2023. Gerloff’s points tally of 51 makes for interesting reading too, as it’s three more than he achieved on Yamaha machinery after five rounds of 2022 – he did miss Estoril through injury however.

6 – Six points-scoring races inside the top ten for Xavi Vierge (Team HRC), the first time in 2023 and the first time since Portimao Race 2 to Phillip Island’s Superpole Race last year.

1 – For the first time since joining Kawasaki, Jonathan Rea failed to achieve a single podium at Misano, the circuit he got his first career win at, back in 2009. It’s also the first time since 2012 that Kawasaki failed to achieve a podium at the track.

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The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s fifth round is signed into the history books and it certainly will be one to remember as major history was made. However, the narratives emitting from the media scrums also gave plenty of insight, intrigue and perhaps, left us needing more question time than ever before. From potential moves and partnering up with WorldSBK royalty to going slower bringing more risk and the latest episode in a difficult year, Misano’s Hot Headlines are rather speziato this week.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “It’s better to go close to the limit than relax and go four tenths slower”

Speaking about the interesting dynamic of needing to push to the limit and not relax as it’s more likely a mistake is made, Bautista gave a detailed answer about his success on Sunday: “The result is a consequence of the hard work, the feeling, the confidence, I am so happy that we achieved this milestone, but the important thing is how we achieve it. I feel solid and confident, and it’s important to stay this way. If you see my pace, I try to keep a consistent lap time. If I try and go three or four tenths slower, then it’s like I’m risking more than if I go faster. It’s strange, but it’s the setup we have for the bike right now. The electronics work different, the stroke… at the end, it’s better to go close to the limit than relax and go four tenths slower. For that, I tried to maybe not go ‘limit, limit, limit’ but pushing hard because otherwise, there’s more risk, you’re slower and there’s less focus.”

Two further topics from Bautista but from Saturday: the date of his MotoGP™ could be getting closer to becoming knowledge to the Spaniard: “I think, after this weekend, Ducati will tell me the date. I hope soon because otherwise, we will get to wintertime, and it’ll be too cold for the other bike. I prefer the hot.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) “I am sorry for Michael… I felt him”

Try as he might, the luck just wasn’t with Toprak to get back winning: “I finished in second but I am sorry for Michael, as he crashed at Turn 1. I am lucky today as I felt him, but I didn’t crash. I tried hard braking into Turn 1 as I know the Ducati is very strong on the straight and I tried to stop more before leaning more. Maybe he didn’t understand and tried to enter faster and made a mistake. I don’t know. I am happy because I managed to get three podiums, one third place and two second places. It was bad luck in the Superpole Race, because I felt I could win as the level is similar. To finish the weekend, we didn’t crash and took points but not important points as the gap is very bag.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “It’s the worst way to end; it sucks”

Discussing his Race 2 fall and the missed opportunity of a triple podium at home, Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s dejection was clear: “Toprak overtook me and I saw on the board, that I have eight second to Bassani so I said, ‘OK, if it goes wrong, I’ll arrive in third, no problem’. Then we arrived at Turn 1 and for me, it was the first time behind a rider. I broke at the same point as the lap before where I had no slipstream. But Toprak’s slipstream sucked me in; I was fast and Toprak brakes late, but when he brakes late, the bike stops a lot. I didn’t expect either of these things, so my speed was too high and if I went to the inside, maybe I’ll take him out, so I tried to go long, but unfortunately the front tyre touched his rear tyre. It was really unlucky, I didn’t want to overtake Toprak or make a mistake, just do the same thing as the laps before, but with the slipstream, everything changed. After a strong weekend, it’s the worst way to end; it sucks. Every weekend, there’s something. At Phillip Island for example, two podiums on Sunday but rain on Saturday. I’m sad, because Race 2 was a podium 100%. It’s racing; it’s easy to give up but I won’t, and at Donington Park, I will have more hunger than here and we’ll prove that we can stay there. For sure, my potential is higher than my position in the Championship, but I’ve made mistakes.”

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “I don’t think the Stewards have been so nice with me this year”

Speaking about his incident in the Superpole Race, Danilo Petrucci shared his thoughts on the decision of the FIM Stewards to hand him a Long Lap Penalty: “In the Superpole Race, I didn’t have a good start but I was on the inside at Turn 2 unfortunately. Me and Domi… I was on the inside and he closed the door. It felt like somebody touched the rear end of my bike but for me the decision of the Stewards is not correct. Every time something happens on the first lap, they always say ‘it’s the first lap and it’s difficult to judge’. Today they were so quick to give me a Long Lap. They didn’t even listen to my opinion. They give me a Long Lap in the race, sending me to P10. I don’t think the stewards have been so nice with me this year, always in this situation. At least we can talk and then give me a penalisation at the end of the race, don’t give me a Long Lap on the second lap. For me, it’s not right. On the inside, where can I go? I’m sorry for him and Remy. For me, the FIM Stewards’ decision is absolutely wrong.”

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing): “Jonny is a legend; if he was my teammate, no problem”

Starting with a review of his first podium of 2023 and touching on his Superpole Race battle with Rinaldi, Axel was glad to be back on the box: “It’s really, really special, like a victory. You feel the warmth of the fans, not only for the Italian riders but for all. I knew I was in P3 as I saw the crash, the yellow flag! I thought I was in P2, because it was Toprak and Michael but I was n P3. I tried to manage the position and the front tyre… I didn’t feel good with the soft tyre. I tried to get to the end, stay calm and we arrived on the podium! In the Superpole Race, with Rinaldi, I did a normal overtake but he didn’t do a normal overtake… it’s Michael, it’s OK!”

Asked directly about his perhaps one day, being teammates with long-time on-track sparring partner Jonathan Rea, Bassani welcomed the idea: “It’s OK! Jonny has a lot of experience, he’s a really good guy. For me, a legend and the best rider in WorldSBK. I’m happy to ride with him and when I beat him! If he was my teammate, then no problem. I have a lot of things to understand from him.”

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “I had an issue with my brake adjuster… I ran into some arm-pump”

A brake lever problem hindered Rea throughout Race 2, but he took positives anyway: “I had an issue with my brake adjuster from the off, the lever was stuck so I basically didn’t have a lot of brake force at some corners – Turn 4, Turn 8 and Turn 14. Braking with one finger, as it was stuck between fingers, I couldn’t put a lot of pressure and then I ran into some arm-pump. With Axel, in the slipstream, the lever was overheating and coming back too much but out of the slipstream, it was manageable, but the lever was stuck in the same position all race. It stopped me fighting with him and I didn’t feel safe to try and do anything behind him. When I had some space, I could just maintain my lap time.

“We closed the gap to Locatelli in the Championship, as much as that’s a small win. We stayed upright all weekend, and we didn’t test here and arrived quite far behind. Step by step, I went 5^th, 5^th, 4^th. The gap to the front is too big… this is the situation. What we can’t accept is be the same pace and race time as last year, we need to be better, and we weren’t.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK): “Not the best weekend for us… this is the best we could do”

After a strong opening four rounds, Misano difficulties came again for Andrea Locatelli, but he improved to P6 in Sunday’s Race 2: “Not the best weekend for us but we got some points for the Championship. We need to look forward and understand what we can do, especially at this track. It’s a bit strange, especially in braking and the entry of the corners. It’s not possible to brake and stop the bike. It was difficult, so in the end we need to be happy because we were fighting today in Race 2, the gap was a bit less and that’s what we could do. I’d like to show more as we’re in Italy, but this is the best that we could do.”

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The Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) during his first MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship home round at the iconic Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. The Italian rookie had shown good pace throughout the weekend but incidents in both Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race meant Petrucci did not score as highly as the pace he had suggested he might.

In Friday’s combined classification, Petrucci was third and only four tenths down on pacesetter Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) time after FP1 and FP2. His pace was strong on Saturday too as he took fourth on the grid in the Tissot Superpole session after posting a 1’33.403s, lapping, again, four tenths down on Bautista’s pole time. This put him in a strong position for Race 1 and, in the early stages, he was fighting with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) for third place.

As the race progressed, Razgatlioglu started pulling away from Petrucci although the gap remained around one second between the pair with Petrucci chasing a maiden WorldSBK podium on home soil. However, his race came to an end on Lap 15 when he crashed out at Turn 8 when he lost the front of his Panigale V4 R, with Petrucci unable to continue in the race and scoring no points when he was on for his best-ever result.

Discussing the Race 1 crash, Petrucci said: “I’m okay. It was a strange crash; I still don’t know why I crashed. I just checked with the team and I was slower compared to the other laps. In general, I wasn’t letting the bike slide into that corner but it’s a problem we have to solve for Sunday because we are there but it’s a bad situation. I was slowing down a bit, but I crashed. I’m so sorry due to all the team the work did this weekend. Fourth position was really good. I tried to stay with Toprak until the end. I don’t remember the last time I crashed in a race.”

In Sunday’s Tissot Superpole Race, the Italian once again started from fourth place and got a good start, but his race started to unravel at Turn 2. He tried to make gains on GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK duo Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner, with Petrucci given a Long Lap Penalty for his role in the crash where Gardner retired and Aegerter continued but finished last. After serving his penalty, Petrucci dropped down to tenth and was directly behind the Team HRC pair of Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona. Heading into Turn 8 on Lap 7, Petrucci made contact with Lecuona with the pair retiring from the race and the red flags deployed at the start of Lap 8.

Explaining his two incidents in the Superpole Race, Petrucci said: “It’s been a really challenging weekend. Fortunately, I have nothing broken. When I crashed, I thought I had broken my femur but fortunately nothing is broken. For me, it was not really the right decision. First of all, I’m sorry about Dominique and Remy’s crash. I was on the inside and I think I was a little bit ahead because I just felt Dominique touching the rear end of my bike. Normally, especially in the first laps, they don’t give any penalty. They didn’t want even two laps to even understand the situation. They gave me a Long Lap immediately. At least, I would have preferred to speak with the FIM Stewards and maybe receive a penalty after the race, because, even with the Long Lap Penalty, my race was finished because I came out in tenth position. Then I was behind the two Honda guys. Xavi passed Iker at Turn 8, Iker went a little bit wide and I was there, and we touched. I’m so sorry for Iker. I had no space to go. Unfortunately, we both crashed.”

In Race 2, Petrucci finished in seventh place after a race-long battle with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). Discussing this battle, Petrucci said: “With this bike, I’m still struggling to make overtakes. I knew that it was really difficult to pass Andrea. In some corners, he was slower than me, but he had a really good race. He was never wide at any corner. Even if I had better pace, I was stuck behind him. I’m sorry because I think we had the potential to stand on the podium in at least one of the three races but we just leave with a seventh place.”

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The 2023 Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship was a dramatic affair with plenty of ups and downs across the grid at the iconic Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed a stunning hat-trick while there were impressive results for Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW). It was also a difficult weekend for some riders despite having impressive pace at times during the round.

LEAVING ITALY ON A HIGH: hat-tricks and podiums…

The undoubted high belongs to Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) after he took a hat-trick at Misano. Using a special yellow livery that represented Ducati’s past, Bautista won all three races despite the best efforts of teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi and rival Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). He’s now 86 points clear of Razgatlioglu in the Championship standings while on a run of 10 consecutive victories. Can he match his own run of 11 from 2019, which was also set by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 2018?

Independent riders also enjoyed the Emilia-Romagna Round with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claiming his first WorldSBK podium of the season with third place in Race 2 after showing impressive pace throughout the weekend. It capped off a memorable weekend for Bassani who secured two fourth-place finishes in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race but ended the weekend on the rostrum, his fifth WorldSBK podium. It was also a strong weekend for Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) who ended the round as BMW’s highest scorer. 13^th in Race 1 was his lowest result of the weekend after he claimed ninth in the Superpole Race and eighth in Race 2.

MIXED EMOTIONS: two podiums but missing out on a third

It had looked like Rinaldi would claim three podiums at his home round for one of his strongest rounds of the season, and he claimed second in Race 1 and third in the Tissot Superpole Race. In Race 2, he was battling with Razgatlioglu for second place with Rinaldi ahead of the 2021 Champion for the majority of the race. Razgatlioglu got through on Rinaldi on Lap 15 and then, at Lap 16, Rinaldi tried to pass him at Turn 1 but made contact with Razgatlioglu, with Rinaldi tumbling into the gravel and out of the race. A case of what might have been for the Italian.

HOPING TO BOUNCE BACK: a difficult weekend

A few riders had weekends to forget at Misano despite show potential at various points, including Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) who, in terms of pace, had his best weekend of the season. He took fourth in Saturday’s Superpole session, only four tenths down on Bautista, and was running in that position in Race 1 before he crashed out on his own at Turn 8. In the Superpole Race, Petrucci was given a Long Lap Penalty for causing a collision with GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team duo Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter, which dropped him down to tenth, and as he was fighting with Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) to take ninth, the pair collided with both retiring from the race.

For the second round in a row, it was a difficult weekend for Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) as he tumbled down the order in Race 2 on Sunday. 12^th in Superpole was backed up with 11^th in Race 1 and in the Tissot Superpole Race, but Race 2 would prove to be the low point of the weekend for Redding. The British rider finished 14 seconds behind teammate Tom Sykes on his return to BMW after struggling with inconsistencies with his engine brake and he was 52 seconds down on race winner Bautista, although with several retirements in the race he was able to pick up two points with 14^th place.

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As the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock headed to the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round, home hero Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) would have been hoping for a strong weekend on home soil. At the circuit he claimed his first wins for the factory Ducati team at back in 2021, Rinaldi walked away from Misano with two more podiums to his name, but he missed out on a third one after a Race 2 crash.

Rinaldi took second place in Race 2 and third in the Tissot Superpole Race after finishing behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in the shortened eight-lap race on Sunday morning while teammate Alvaro Bautista claimed wins in both of those races, as well as Race 2. Rinaldi had been competitive from the start of the Emilia-Romagna Round with fourth in Friday’s combined classification and third on the grid after a strong Tissot Superpole session on Saturday.

In Race 2, Razgatlioglu and Rinaldi battled it out in the early stages of the race before the 2021 Champion moved ahead of Bautista briefly with Rinaldi also ahead of his teammate. Bautista was soon back ahead of the pair of them. It left Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu battling it out for second place and, while Rinaldi was ahead for the majority of the battle, Razgatlioglu came through on Lap 15 to move into second place. At Turn 1 a lap later, the pair made contact with Rinaldi going through the gravel and out of the race.

Reviewing his home round and explaining the Race 2 crash, Rinaldi said: “It’s been a really positive weekend for me overall. I was able to have good speed in all practice sessions and all races. In Race 2, I didn’t have the same feeling as Race 1, so I was a few tenths slower and that allowed Toprak to stay with me. I tried to not risk too much and six or seven laps from the end, Toprak overtook me. I thought the guy behind me was seven or eight seconds back, I’ll take the podium; at the end of the race, if I can make the move, I will.

“What happened was for the first time in two days, I was behind a rider at the first corner and I didn’t expect that Toprak’s slipstream would drag me in. I braked at the same point as the lap before, but I wasn’t able to stop the bike. Toprak is a rider that, when he starts braking, he stops the bike completely. Both things made me crash because maybe, for three centimetres, I touched his rear wheel. I was, I can say, a little bit unlucky because I crashed, and we could easily have finished third or maybe second. Ending like this is so bad for morale but the performance was good, and I cannot complain too much; it’s racing.”

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A huge crowd gathered at the iconic Misano World “Marco Simoncelli” during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship descended on the Adriatic coast in Italy for Round 5 of the 2023 campaign. More than 70,000 fans enjoyed the action at Misano with plenty of reasons to cheer for the Ducatisti at the venue as well as a chance to meet their heroes in the paddock or during the Paddock Show.

The fans in attendance enjoyed plenty of on-track action with every race providing drama and excitement throughout in WorldSBK, WorldSSP and WorldSSP300. The total number of spectators, 70,815 people, were able to watch Stefano Manzi’s (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) stunning last-lap fight with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) for home victory in Race 2, as well as wildcard Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) taking a double win on his return to WorldSSP300 action.

Of course, in WorldSBK, they were able to enjoy local riders standing on the podium with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) taking two and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) one on Sunday, as well as Ducati winning all three races thanks to reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The passionate and partisan Italian crowd also saw Danilo Petrucci’s (Barni Spark Racing Team) strongest round of the season in terms of pace, even if the results weren’t quite there for the two-time MotoGP™ race winner.

Last year, almost 66,000 spectators travelled to the stunning Misano circuit meaning an increase of around 7.6% when compared to 2022, while the numbers were slightly higher than in 2019; the last visit before the pandemic. In 2019, 70,447 spectators watched the incredible WorldSBK action at Misano. Not only did fans get to enjoy the on-track action but there was plenty of off-track activities too, from the famous Paddock Show where fans can play interactive games and meet their favourite riders, as well as be in the heart of the podium celebrations with fans able to get as close as possible to watch the riders celebrate their success.

Gregorio Lavilla, WorldSBK Executive Director, said: “After a fantastic weekend of races we are happy to reflect on the success of the WorldSBK Round in Misano. This event not only demonstrated the unwavering passion of fans for the competitive tradition of Emilia-Romagna, but also highlighted the strong link between WorldSBK and Misano World Circuit. Together we demonstrated the power of unity and the ability of motorsport to bring people together even in difficult times.”

Andrea Albani, Managing Director at the Misano World Circuit, added: “The WorldSBK Emilia-Romagna Round success is an important signal for the area and motorsport. It is important in these weeks in which some Romagna areas have been wounded deeply. Everyone needed such an ‘answer’ like this. Tens of thousands people attending the Round and these last three weekends mean welcome organisation is at operating speed. We have welcomed fans and world level businessmen, involved by the events in a propositional atmosphere and choosing Motor Valley for their industrial and communication projects. It’s the success of a system that works in a context addressed to keep growing.”

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