Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1484691
Longevity trumped outright perfor- mance for Pirelli in this round. In the first race of over 22 laps in wet conditions with wet tires on almost all the bikes, there was a quickly developing four-rider leading group comprising Rea, Bautista, Lowes and Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha). On a rapidly drying track, the big question became who would enter pitlane for slick tires first, and would coming in earlier be the best strategy? That was the right decision, as Rea and Razgatlioglu were the first two in, and they would finish 1-2 in the race. Razgatlioglu entered the pits as soon as Rea did, but he lost over five seconds (he later said) to an imperfect wheel change, going over the minimum one minute and three seconds pitlane intervention time allowed for at this circuit for tire changes. He chased Rea hard but to no avail. Rea's first win since Estoril back in May would be his sixth of the season. Bautista was next in of the big four early leaders, but his pace on dry tires was compromised more than most by his low body weight. Ideally, he needs to change springs and fork internals from wet to dry and vice versa. Lowes was last of the lead- ers in to change rubber, but he made it up to third place, ahead of Andrea Locatelli and then the struggling Bautista in fifth. One day later, several changes in weather conditions and one unexpected delay (that seemed over-cautious to some) and the Sunday Superpole race finally got underway. The heavy rain that delayed the start of the 10-lap sprint race (the fans and teams were told to take cover until it blew over) saw every- one face a new dilemma. After the sighting laps, the obvious choice was rain tires, but with no more rain forecast, a strong wind blowing, and the sun coming out, the major- ity went for some kind of front-wet/ rear-intermediate solution. It was the right choice until the second half of the race, as Bau- tista came through on full slicks that his own team on the start line even thought was a bit crazy, to win by over three seconds from the first lap runaway lead- ers Razgatlioglu, Rea and in an eventual fourth place, Lowes. Tire gambles, overheating front tires being taken over the limit by the likes of Rea and Razgatlioglu, it was hardly a typical sprint race in all but its intensity. Another weather- affected absolute thriller, however, with full marks all around for tension and early arithmetical interest to see if the new world champion in red was going to catch and pass for yet another race win. With everybody keyed up for the final race, and the dry start it provided, the last event of a truly remarkable 2022 season got underway. The final race of 2022 ended up in a Bautista versus Rea scrap after Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yama- ha) and Xavi Vierge (HRC Racing) both ran off early on, spoiling their end-of-season hopes. Speaking of his earlier race- one performance, Gerloff said, "We had a full wet setup that was quite a bit different from my dry setup. Then we finished on that same setup but with a little bit extra preload, front and rear. I was actually really surprised how good it felt. Not right away—right away I was like, this feels like shit. But then after I got used to it, I was actually really liking it." He would finish the weekend with a sixth in race one, seventh in the Superpole race, and a DNF in race two. Finally, Rea led for five laps, Bautista for 12. Twelve, not 17—a nasty crash for Eugene Laverty (BMW) in his final WorldSBK career race saw IN THE WIND P44 Aegerter's Supersport win in race two moved him into second on the all-time WorldSSP winner's list after just two seasons. Next stop, WorldSBK in 2023.