Axel Bassani is the best independent Superbike rider for 2022.
On the Mandalika track, in Indonesia, the Feltre rider celebrated the first place in the special classification thanks to the excellent placings arrived in the Superpole Race and in Race 2.
Axel managed to take fifth place in both races, but the impressive performance in Race 2 should be emphasized, where the Motocorsa Racing team rider remained in the top three for a long time. He could not do anything about overtaking Rea, third at the finish line, while in the last laps he engaged in a great battle with Locatelli to whom he had to give up fourth place only on the last lap.
With a fourth place in the Superpole Race and a second in Race 2, Bautista was crowned Superbike World Champion one weekend to spare. For Ducati this is the second riders’ championship in 2022 after the one won in Valencia last week with Francesco Bagnaia in the MotoGP. The hat-trick scored by Razgatlioglu over the weekend was not enough to keep alive the world hope that deservedly went to the Spaniard, clearly the most consistent this season.
THE WORDS OF AXEL
«It was a good race, we were able to make a change from Saturday where we were struggling», Axel Bassani comments smiling, «from the Superpole Race we managed to improve a lot, we are happy with the progress made and the placements obtained.
In Race 2 I lost a lot on the first lap with Redding but then I managed to catch up. The first three simply had more. We took home two fifth places and the independent championship and we can only be happy with that. We did a great job, now we think about having fun in the last race in Australia. More support from Ducati for the next one
season? We will see, we hope so. This part, however, I do not follow, we will see if something will come up in winter ».
Bassani will race again with the Motocorsa Racing team and with Ducati next year and will try to conquer an official saddle for 2024. Next weekend will be the turn of the last round of the season at Phillip Island in Australia.
RACE CLASSIFICATION 2
Razgatlioglu, Bautista, Rea, Locatelli, Bassani, Redding, Vierge, Gerloff, Lowes,
Rinaldi, Fores, Van Der Mark, Baz, Syahrin, Konig, Laverty, Mercado. Unclassified: Smith and Nozane.
WORLD RANKING
Bautista 553, Razgatlioglu 487, Rea 450, Rinaldi 279, Locatelli 245, Lowes 234, Bassani 230, Redding 190, Lecuona 189, Vierge 154. Manufacturers ranking: Ducati 584, Yamaha 535, Kawasaki 478, Honda 241, Bmw 238.