12th to sixth at the flag.
The rain gods had taken a dif-
ferent path from the one expect-
ed this weekend, with only some
sessions affected (FP3, for ex-
ample) but Sunday was blessed
with largely sunny weather.
RACE 2
This meant more headaches for the
teams to choose their ideal setup
entering the final 20-lap race.
The question of who could
beat Bautista was answered
strongly and early when the num-
ber 19 Ducati took the lead and
kept creating a bigger one.
The most interesting dynamic
was seeing Rinaldi get his meta-
phorical elbows out to hold up
Rea, partly for his own gain in
case the rider in green could go
away, partly to slow the pace
to save tires for the end at this
rubber-wrecking circuit. But we
must presume also so that he
could hold up Rea and Razgatlio-
glu behind his championship
chasing teammate.
Axel Bassani was in aggressive
form, and he also caused Rea
to think about his live situation in
track in those early laps. Bassani
went second at around half race
distance, but after Rinaldi dis-
placed him, the privateer dropped
back—until Rea found a false neu-
tral and ran off track, coming back
on behind Bassani on lap 16.
Rea would re-pass with relative
ease but the podium riders—Bau-
tista, Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu—
were too far ahead to think about.
After his race-one podium
Garrett Gerloff would crash, but
so did Scott Redding (at a tough
circuit for BMW), Lowes (on lap
one) and Andrea Locatelli.
In the championship fight itself,
a lot of damage was done to Rea
and Razgatlioglu both by the
combination of Bautista's wins and
their own occasional misfortunes.
Rea went 2-2-4, and Razgatlio-
glu 5-4-3. But compared to Bau-
tista's 1-1-1 it was all slipping back.
In the championship points,
Bautista has 394, Razgatlioglu
335 and Rea 327.
WORLDSSP
Ten Kate Yamaha Dominique
Aegerter won both Supersport
races and both times with a little
bit of breathing room. Aegerter
took the checkers in race one
3.472 second ahead of fellow
Yamaha rider Lorenzo Baldas-
sarri, who edged out Kawasaki
rider Can Oncu and Ducati rider
Federico Caricasulo by inches.
In race two, Oncu made it a little
close for Aegerter, taking second
by 2.014 seconds. Triumph's Ste-
fano Manzi, Baldassarri and Niki
Tuuli completed the top five.
Aegerter now has 336 points,
Baldassarri 300 and Oncu is now
third with 171.
Gordon Ritchie
WORLDSBK
Race 1
1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
3. Garret Gerloff (Yam)
4. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Duc)
5. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam)
Superpole
1. Iker Lecuona (Hon)
2. Alex Lowes (Kaw)
3. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
4. Andrea Locatelli (Yam)
5. Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
Race 2
1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc)
2. Michael Rinaldi (Duc)
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam)
4. Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
5. Axel Bassani (Duc)
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 39 SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 P49
Dominique
Aegerter doubled
up in WorldSSP.
