Image: Supplied.

As the 2022 Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) draws closer to season-end, reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Alvaro Bautista both stood on the top step at Portimao, as Stefano Manzi and Dominique Aegerter split wins in World Superport (WorldSSP) while Alvaro Diaz secured the title in World Supersport 300 (WorldSSP300).

Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) edged Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) in race one, with Rea leading the early stages of the bout.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) continued to impress and crossed the line P4, ahead of Kawasaki Racing Team’s Alex Lowes – the pair separated by less than a tenth of a second as the race concluded.

In the Superpole Race, Razgatlioglu stood tall once again after narrowly besting Bautista by 0.123s. Rea completed the podium, ahead of Lowes and Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

Bautista showed immense pace to take the honours in race two, storming past title-rivals Razgatlioglu and Rea to take a 2.256s victory. Razgatlioglu ultimately finished P2, with Rea third once more as Rinaldi and Lowes completed the top five.

In the WorldSBK Championship standings, Bautista maintains a healthy lead of 56 points ahead of Razgatlioglu as Rea is a further 26 adrift.

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Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) broke through and delivered to take the opening WorldSSP race win, crossing the line in front of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evans Bros.WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing).

Points-leader Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) finished P4, as 0.309s separated the top four and the end of the 12-lap outing.

Aegerter rebounded in race two to stand on the top step, besting Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) and Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who completed the rostrum. Manzi crashed out at turn two with four laps remaining and did not complete the race.

Three Australians were competing in WorldSSP in Portugal, with Barni Spark Racing Team’s Oli Bayliss notching 20-16 results, Ben Currie (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) going 22-19 and Tom Edwards (YART – Yamaha WorldSSP) unfortunately crashing out of race one and forced to retire from race two with a technical issue.

In the WorldSSP standings, Aegerter remains on track to make it back-to-back titles and holds a 45-point advantage on second-placed Baldassarri.

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Dirk Geiger (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) was victorious in WorldSSP300 race one, leading Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing) and Humberto Maier (AD78 Team by MS Racing).

Unfortunately, Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) was transported from the circuit in critical condition following an incident that brought out the red flag, with the race restarted later in the day.

Race two for the category saw Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) cross the line first, leading Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) who secured the championship with P2 as Matteo Vannucci completed the rostrum.

Detailed results