News 17 Jul 2023

Determined Razgatlioglu claws back at Imola WorldSBK

Manzi does the WorldSSP double, Vannucci and Geiger split 300 wins.

Image: Supplied.

A determined Toprak Razgatlioglu clawed back 2023 Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) points at Imola with victories in the sprint and race two as title leader Alvaro Bautista crashed out of contention in the final outing. Meanwhile, Stefano Manzi made it two from two in the Supersport World Championship as Matteo Vannucci and Dirk Geiger split wins in WorldSSP300.

Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) took a 3.672s victory ahead of Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) in the opening bout, with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) completing the top five.

Razgatlioglu emerged on top in the Superpole race, edging Bautista with Locatelli finishing third ahead of Rea and Rinaldi. The number 54 later overcame a spirited performance by Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) to claim the race two victory – the bout notably shortened prior to race start due to extreme heat.

Behind second-placed Bassani, Rea, Locatelli and Rinaldi completed the top five and Bautista was unable to complete the race after an early fall on lap one, his championship lead now cut to 70 points. Australia’s Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha) concluded Imola with  11-11-11 results.

Image: Supplied.

It was a dream scorecard for Manzi in the Supersport World Championship at Imola, the Italian taking an important double victory at round seven.

Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP) completed the podium in race one, while it was Bulega and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) in positions two and three for the final encounter.

Bulega remains at the head of the standings following the round in Italy, 41 points ahead of the in-form Manzi.

Australia’s Tom Edwards (YART Yamaha) notched a 16th-place finish in race one but was disqualified from the classification in race two for an infringement of minimum weight. Luke Power (Motozoo MIE AIR Racing) delivered his best results to date in WorldSSP, highlighted by a point scoring 15th position in the second encounter.

Unfortunately, Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing) was declared unfit after FP1 due to injuries sustained last time out at Donington Park, the extent of such further revealed following the UK round.

Image: Supplied.

Vannucci and Geiger split victorious in the WorldSSP300 class, with the former taking the spoils in race one and the German standing tall in the final encounter.

The pair effectively traded a 1-2 scorecard, with Jeffrey Buis and Humberto Maeir also standing on the podium in races one and two respectively.

In terms of the championship standings, Geiger holds a 17-point advantage ahead of Vannucci following the first four rounds of WorldSSP300.

Detailed results




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