Misano WorldSBK Race 2 Results | Alvaro Bautista extends lead with sixth win

Alvaro Bautista moved further clear at the head of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship standings with another resounding victory in the second race of the weekend in Misano.

After romping to victory in Race 1 following a tussle with Jonathan Rea, the Ducati rider squared up against Toprak Razgatlioglu for honours in Race 2 but would prove too strong for the Turk as he sprinted home a clear seven second winner.

Buoyed by his return to the winners’ circle in the Superpole Race, Razgatlioglu powered into an early lead by getting the hole-shot into Turn 1 before repelling a pass by Bautista mid-way around the opening lap at Curvone to complete the opening lap in front.

Despite briefly slipping to third as Rea piled into the action, Bautista quickly returned the favour on the Kawasaki rider before resuming his efforts against Razgatlioglu ahead.

While a first attempt at passing on lap four was met with the gritty response from Razgatlioglu as he surged back past at Turn 14, a cool Bautista maintained the pressure on his rival, eventually landing a decisive pass for the lead on lap seven.

From here the Spaniard wasn’t headed again, with Razgatlioglu’s attempts to go with him coming up short as the Ducati rider multiplied his advantage to victory by a clear margin by the flag.

A sixth win in 12 races for the ex-MotoGP rider, Bautista comes away from Misano having now scored a victory in each of the opening four rounds. 

Coupled with Rea finishing off the podium in fourth place, the margin between the pair has swelled to 36 points.

After losing yet more ground in the title race with an untimely technical DNF in Race 1, a win and a second place on Sunday helped Razgatlioglu end the weekend positively, though he remains a sizeable 74 points adrift of Bautista now.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi recovered for his second podium finish of the weekend, the Italian’s strong start rewarded with a scalp over Rea, who after losing third to the Ducati rider early on, had to settle for fourth.

Iker Lecuona completed a brace of Sunday fifth place finishes on the Honda, the Spaniard making up for Xavi Vierge crashing out of sixth position on lap 11 after an apparent collision with Axel Bassani, the Motocorsa Racing rider staying upright to finish seventh behind Andrea Locatelli.

Alex Lowes was on course for sixth before a long lap penalty for track limit violations demoted him to eighth, with Scott Redding and Loris Baz completing the top ten for BMW.

2022 WorldSBK Championship | Misano, Italy | Race 2 RESULTS