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Ducati fans weren’t disappointed at Misano, where Alvaro Bautista scored his third consecutive hat-trick, bringing his Panigale V4R to victory. The reigning champion practices another type of sport, and he proved it in the Riviera, where he again let Toprak Razgatlioglu have it, the only one of his opponents who tried to give him a hard time, during an especially lucky weekend.
THE GOOD - Axel Bassani returned to the podium after a 22-race fast, taking 3rd place in Race 2. Smiling like never before, the rider from Feltre celebrated his first podium of the season. And he did so in Misano, surrounded by the affection of his home crowd, after keeping Jonathan Rea at bay throughout the race. Hard to imagine a greater podium than that.
THE UGLY - The Cannibal has no more weapons to fight with. Kawasaki struggled to keep up with its opponents and, at Misano, the six-time champion had to revise his goals, definitively abandoning the idea of fighting steadily for podiums and victories.
THE BAD - The only one for the Stewards is Danilo Petrucci, sanctioned with a Long Lap for touching Dominique Aegerter in the Superpole Race. An accident that destroyed the race for Danilo, Domi, Remy, and Iker. In an unfortunate chain effect, he rider from Terni was banged up and the Spanish rider was sent to the infirmary,
THE CONFIRMATION - The only one to triumph in the season without being named Alvaro Bautista is Toprak Razgatlioglu who reminded everyone at Misano that he was the first and, perhaps only, opponent of the Ducati rider, fighting with nails and teeth for the Sprint Race victory, until the red flag.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT - The World Circuit Marco Simoncelli track didn’t smile down upon Andrea Locatelli, who interrupted his one podium per race trend. The rider from Bergamo struggled to find his pace, ending Race 1 in 12th position, 21.2” from Toprak, then finishing 7th and 6th in the remaining two races. Not much, compared to Toprak’s performance and Andrea’s potential, always in the Top 5 in the first 11 races of the year.
THE ERROR - Overtaken by Razgatlioglu after two-thirds of the race, Michael Ruben Rinaldi missed out on the third podium in Misano, getting sucked in by the Turkish rider’s slipstream, and then ended up hitting his rear wheel and falling at Turn 1.
THE SURPRISE - Ducati floored everyone by changing the color of Bautista’s and Rinaldi’s Panigale V4Rs. They were colored yellow for the three races in Romagna, confusing even Alvaro, as he took a while to recognize himself on the maxi-screens. What can we say? Surprise!
THE OVERTAKE - Stefano Manzi was holding a grudge and showed it by overtaking Nicolò Bulega at Turn 3, on the last lap of Race 2. An overtake that proved decisive for the rider from Rimini, with his first victory on the Ten Kate team’s Yamaha R6, at the 100th podium in the SSP.
THE ANECDOTE - Bautista reached 72 podiums with his hat-trick at Misano, stealing away Max Biaggi’s 12th place in the all-time standings.
THE WE TOLD YOU SO - “We’ll try to get the most out of it, as we always do,” Bautista said on the eve of the Misano round, where he scored his third consecutive hat-trick.
