Toprak closes the podium ahead of Lowes, Locatelli and a super Oettl. 7th Rea who wide on the first lap while Gardner hits Aegerter finishing both outside. 8th Lecuona then Bassani, van der Mark and Petrucci, 14th Redding, 16th Baldassarri
Written by Riccardo Guglie… – Sun, 26/02/2023 – 03:26
The first sprint race of the season turns red with Alvaro Bautista who prevails over Michael Rinaldi. Toprak Razgatlioglu celebrates with them on the podium while Lowes emerges victorious from the tussle for fourth place with Andrea Locatelli.
The best of the rookies is instead Philipp Oettl, who for the occasion precedes Rea’s Kawasaki, author of a long one on the first lap which cost him time to avoid contact with Aegerter. Lecuona then Bassani and van der Mark stand out in eighth position. Out of the top ten Petrucci, 14th Redding, 16th Baldassarri.
A race to forget for GRT with Gardner hitting Aegerter finishing both outside when they were in the top five.
GIRO 9 – The last lap of the sprint race now begins with Bautista in front of everyone while Lowes is closely followed by Locatelli and Petrucci by Vierge
GIRO 8 – The Ducatis are playing a separate script while Locatelli threatens Lowes in the tussle for fourth place. Bassani climbs instead to ninth position behind Lecuona. Meanwhile Rea tries to close the gap to Oettl, half a second away.
GIRO 7– Bautista has a second and a half on Rinaldi then Toprak is pressed by Lowes, Locatelli, Oettl and Rea. Bassani 10th, Petrucci 12th.
GIRO 6 – The Ducatis dig the groove while Sykes stops. Toprak passes Lowes and is third while GRT disaster with Gardner who hits Aegerter at the Miller corner and both end up out of contention. Locatelli then climbs to fifth position followed by Oettl and Rea who becomes seventh.
GIRO 5 – Bautista said goodbye to the group and Rinaldi took a half-second lead over Lowes who was pressed by Toprak. 5th Aegerter then Gardner and Locatelli.
GIRO 4 – Bautista tries to escape, Rinaldi eats Toprak and Lowes, leaping into second position, eight tenths behind his teammate. Rea is still ninth three and a half seconds from the top, Bassani 13th then Redding and Petrucci.
GIRO 3 – Bautista tries to escape by giving Lowes half a second while Toprak is third followed by Rinaldi who takes back the position from Aegerter. 6th Gardner, 8th Oettl followed by Rea and Lecuona.
GIRO 2 – Bautista and Lowes make the most of their engine power and push Toprak down the straight. Aegerter passes Rinaldi and is fourth while Rea is still ninth behind Locatelli. Redding 12th, Bassani 14th, Petrucci 16th.
GIRO 1 – Toprak commands the race with a tenth of a margin over Bautista while Rinaldi is third followed by Aegerter and Gardner. Rea goes wide at the Miller corner to avoid Aegerter and finishes ninth behind Locatelli. 11th Bassani, 16th Petrucci.
Here we are! The first sprint race of the season starts now!
12:58 Start the warmup lap now!
12:50 Just 10 minutes before the start: the asphalt is completely dry after the morning rain. Toprak is on pole with Bautista and Rinaldi alongside.
12:30 All ready at Phillip Island for the start of the sprint race! In a few minutes the siren will sound and the riders will go to the grid to line up.
11:45 The Superpole Race at Phillip Island will start in just over an hour. At the moment the track is drying out after the morning rain which characterized the SBK and SSP warmup sessions.
11:00 The warmup has just ended, characterized by a light drizzle. The best turned out to be Alvaro Bautista in 1’29″798, the only one capable of breaking the 1’30 mark. For the occasion, the world champion preceded Toprak by 322 thousandths, while Locatelli was third by seven tenths. With the fourth fastest time the Ducati of Rinaldi, called for yesterday’s disappointing performance in Race 1.
Danilo Petrucci’s eighth time was also to be recorded, while Rea and Kawasaki closed the session with the tenth time behind Aegerter. Among those chasing Bassani and Redding, respectively 14th and 16th.
It’s time for the Superpole Race at Phillip Island! Ten laps of fire for the first sprint race of the season, which will start at 13 local time, or 3 Italian time. Toprak, protagonist yesterday in qualifying, will start from pole, while Alvaro Bautista, winner of Race 1 on Saturday, will be at his side.
The Yamaha R1 of Dominique Aegerter closed the front row with Johnny Rea and the Kawasaki opened the second row followed by Oettl and Rinaldi. On the seventh spot of the grid we find Gardner, then Lowes and Locatelli, while Danilo Petrucci’s Ducati is in tenth. Bassani will start from 14th position with Redding on his left and Baldassarri on his right.
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