WorldSBK Supported Test ends with Ducati 1-2 in Misano

May 12, 2023

Alvaro Bautista leads teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi in rain-affected Day 2.

Already fastest on Thursday, Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista remained fastest on day two of the Supported Test. After 72 laps completed, his fastest time on Friday was a 1’33.627s as he was 0.138s quicker than teammate Rinaldi. Michael Ruben Rinaldi ended the Supported Test with the second-best time with a 1’33.765s. Rinaldi and Bautista were the only riders to ride within 1’33s. Toprak Razgatlioglu was the third fastest rider, having set a fastest time of 1’33.765s. Andrea Locatelli was fourth. Rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri had a solid test as he concluded the two-day test in fifth place with a 1’34.681s, 1.054s behind Bautista. BMW’s Scott Redding completed the top six 1.169s behind Bautista, while Tom Sykes was 10th.

The second and final day of testing at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the majority of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship concluded with reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) taking top spot and leading a Ducati 1-2 on a rain-affected day in Italy. A shower an hour before the scheduled one-hour break, and more rain in the afternoon, limited running across the day but teams and riders were still able to take advantage of periods of dry conditions while most did use the test to get some wet-weather running in. Worldsbk Supported Test Ends With Ducati 1-2 In Misano

Top spot on Day 2 belonged to Bautista once again as he set a 1’33.627s and completed 72 laps to take top spot, lapping around six tenths slower than his best time from Day 1 as he focused on the setup of his Panigale V4 R. Bautista led a Ducati 1-2 as teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished in second. Rinaldi was 0.138s slower than Bautista as he looked to find a setup ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Round at the start of June.

The Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK squad had five bikes to ride between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli during the test, with 2021 Champion Razgatlioglu using the extra bike on Day 2. He finished third after setting a 1’34.181s on Day 2 and completing 43 laps across his three bikes. Teammate Locatelli was fourth and three tenths behind Razgatlioglu at the end of the test, with Locatelli completing 51 laps with his two bikes.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) enjoyed a strong test on home soil at Misano and took sixth place on Day 2, half-a-second down on Razgatlioglu and just over a second off Bautista’s time. Baldassarri, on Day 1, had similar problems to those he had in Barcelona but was able to make a step forward and he continued that work on Day 2 while also looking at the geometry of his Yamaha YZF R1 machine.

After a strong performance on Day 1, eyes were on BMW to see if they could repeat that on Day 2 and they did so with three riders in the top ten. Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took sixth spot with a best time of 1’34.796s and 53 laps to his name while teammate Tom Sykes, testing new components that Redding had yesterday, was inside the top ten once again and only two tenths behind Redding.