Yamaha’s Stefano Manzi took the Race 2 win after a last lap overtake on Nicolo Bulega. He claimed his second win in WorldSSP and Yamaha’s first win in the category since Phillip Island 2022. He maintains his second position in the Championship standings with 161 points. Nicolo Bulega was second in Race 2, claiming his eighth podium of 2023. He remains the Championship leader with 197 points. Third place went to Marcel Schroetter for his fourth WorldSSP podium. He stands in third place in the Championship standings.
Race 2 in the FIM Supersport World Championship was a dramatic affair after a last lap pass by Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed his first win of the 2023 season at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round to claim Ten Kate Racing’s 100th WorldSSP victory. It was a race-long with between Manzi and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) which was decided on the final lap to deny Bulega a double home victory.
Bulega lost out at the start again as he fell behind Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) but he quickly moved his way back up to the front. Unlike in Race 1, Bulega was unable to pull out a gap to the chasing pack as Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) joined the front group as he battled for his first victory of the 2023 season. Manzi initially took the lead on Lap 11 at Turn 2 but Bulega responded a lap later to re-claim the lead as he looked to double up at Misano.
However, Manzi was able to stay close to Bulega throughout the final few laps and, on Lap 17, Manzi was briefly ahead when Bulega ran wide at Turn 10 although the Championship leader was able to quickly take the lead back heading into Turn 11. It was a short-lived lead for Bulega, though, as Manzi surprised Bulega with a move at Turn 3 on the final lap to move into the lead and deny Bulega a home double. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was just behind the pair, finishing 1.5s back from Bulega, to claim third place.
Caricasulo had a dramatic race as he got ahead of Bulega at the start but, as he was fighting for the podium places, ran wide at Turn 10 which dropped him down the order. He was also then given a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding but he was able to fight his way back to fourth place, four seconds down on Schroetter, but almost three clear of Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) in fifth, with the Spaniard taking his best result of the season and in WorldSSP. Wildcard Simone Corsi (Altogo Racing Team) concluded his home round with sixth place as he enjoyed a strong weekend as a wildcard in Italy.
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
1. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.208s
3. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +1.566s
4. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) +6.083s
5. Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) +8.834s
6. Simone Corsi (Altogo Racing Team) +10.938s
WorldSSP Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 197 points
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 161 points
3. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 148 points
P1 | Stefano Manzi | Ten Kate Racing Team
“It was an amazing day for us after a good Warm Up where I had strong pace. I started pretty well, and I was able to gain some positions until I arrived behind Nicolo. We started to fight a bit. He had a very good pace too, but I was starting to disturb him. I saw that in some areas I was stronger, but in the end, I thought that if I didn’t overtake him then, I wouldn’t not get another opportunity. In the end, I could overtake him in the last lap. It’s fantastic to win with Yamaha and my team. It was an amazing weekend for me.”
For more info checkout our dedicated World Supersport News page superbike-news.co.uk/world-supersport/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
