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/1503048
fatigue," Gerloff said after race two. "It wasn't arm pump, I was just losing strength in my arm and that made it difficult to be con- sistent. I made a couple of stupid mistakes and people passed me, but in the end, I was still with the group with Scott [Redding] and the other guys. That was super positive and I'm very happy about that. We're getting closer and closer, and I know we're going in a good direction." In the championship, we enter two rounds in quick succession through July – Imola and Most – with Bautista at 357 points, Razgatlioglu at 264, Locatelli at 175 and Rea with 163. WorldSSP Two days of domination in the results, and the seventh and eighth 2023 race wins for the championship leader do not tell the whole story of the Donington WorldSSP weekend. Not by a long way. Superpole in WorldSSP was taken by Nico Bulega, from Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Ducati). The ever-present Ten Kate Yamaha threat of Stefano Manzi was third on the grid. Manzi would rise to second in the race, but there was no stop - ping Bulega who added the race win to his new Superpole record of 1:29.323 and lap record of 1:29.511. More about that lap record shortly. Manzi closed in to just over a second off the Aruba Ducati rider at the flag, after 19 laps, with Mon - tella third for his team's first-ever WorldSSP podium. Federico Cari- casulo (Althea Ducati) was fourth. Glenn Van Strallen (EAB Racing Yamaha) placed fifth and the ever- improving Spanish teenager, Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki), was sixth and top Kawasaki runner. In the second race a kaleido- scope of dramas befell some of the top runners, with Manzi crashing in his pursuit of the leading Bulega, then remounting to pass some of his rivals too hard for the liking of the stew- ards. He lost Valentin Debise (GMT94) several places as he pushed him wide, then took Lucas Mahias right off the track completely at the scary Craner Curves entry. Manzi took a long-lap pen- alty and finished fifth, re-passing Debise in a more gentlemanly manner than before. Bulega won the second race, and set a new track best, not just a lap record, with a 1:29.018 on lap four. Montella finished in second and Caricasulo was third. Huertas had a career-best fourth-place finish, to prove he had recovered from early season injury, and then some. In the championship points, at the exact halfway point of the season, Bulega has 247 points, Manzi 192, Caricasulo 156 and big high side crasher in race two, Marcel Schrotter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), is on the same points as Caricasulo. Gordon Ritchie WorldSBK Race One 1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) 3. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 4. Danilo Petrucci (Duc) 5. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) WorldSBK Superpole 1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) 2. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 3. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 4. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) 5. Danilo Petrucci (Duc) WorldSBK Race Two 1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) 3. Danilo Petrucci (Duc) 4. Scott Redding (BMW) 5. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) WIND IN THE P30 Nico Bulega's now over a full round's worth of points clear in the WorldSSP title chase.