Good Weekend for the Home Hero

Rinaldi put a smile on the face of his Italian employers by wrapping up a spectacular weekend

THE WSBK CIRCUS MAY HAVE moved to Misano but it was business as usual for Rea. once again, he minced the all-time lap record at the Misano world Circuit “Marco simoncelli” and claimed pole position with a time of 1’33.416. Joining him on the front row were Razgatlioglu and Redding in that order.

Rinaldi took off to a phenomenal start and passed three of his rivals to take the lead into the first turn. of course, Rea lunged back to counter the move and Rinaldi defended his position but was unable to draw out a gap between him and the defending champion. a rare error on the part of Rea cost him precious seconds when he had to save a massive slide, allowing Razgatlioglu to swallow up his second place. Rinaldi made the most of this incident and marched ahead to win the race, thus making him the first italian to win at Misano since Marco Melandri in 2017 and, of course, his first victory for the factory Ducati outfit. Razgatlioglu finished in second place while Rea rounded off the podium.

Fresh from the victory of the previous race, Rinaldi kept up his splendid form for the superpole race too and flew to the finish-line for a second win. Just less than half a second behind him, Razgatlioglu finished in second place while Rea came third.

The home crowd watched race two with bated breath because the local hero was on the way to secure a hat-trick win. things did not get off to a great start for Rinaldi but he made up lost ground and was back in the lead soon enough. however, a surprise attack by Razgatlioglu earned him the lead and eventually the win, breaking a streak of Ducati or Kawasaki wins since 2014. Rinaldi kept his lead and powered to a second-place finish while Rea had to settle for third place.

Rea now leads the championship with 149 points. with 129 points, Razgatlioglu is catching up while Redding sits in third place with 104 points.