There was no shortage of drama in Race 1 for the FIM Supersport World Championship as Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed victory after rival Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was penalised for a last-lap track limits infringement at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. The results of the race at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round mean Aegerter has extended his Championship lead to 49 points after just seven races so far in 2022.

TOP THREE NOSE TO TAIL: decided on the final lap

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) got a good launch off the line to move into the lead of the race and looked to pull a gap out, thanks to lap record pace in the opening laps of the race, over the chasing Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team). Despite a series of faster laps from both Aegerter and Baldassarri as the race progressed, Bulega was able to hold on to the lead of the race until Lap 17.

At Turn 1 on Lap 17, Aegerter made his move into the right-hander to move into the lead of the race with just two laps to go with Baldassarri taking advantage of Bulega losing momentum to swoop around the outside of Turn 2 and into Turn 3. On the last lap, Baldassarri, at the same corner, made his move on Aegerter for the lead of the race and withstood a move from the Swiss rider at Turn 14 to hold on. However, on the exit of Turn 15, Baldassarri was adjudged to have gone on the green by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards and was demoted one place, promoting Aegerter to victory.

Aegerter now has 16 wins in WorldSSP, putting him level with Andrew Pitt and Sam Lowes at 16^th in the all-time list while his sixth consecutive win means he now has the second longest winning streak in WorldSSP; exceeding his best of five from last season and putting him only behind Andrea Locatelli who scored nine in 2020. Baldassarri took his sixth podium with second place, putting him level with Jonathan Rea while Bulega took his fourth podium. It means Bulega is level with Roberto Rolfo, Robbin Harms, Gianluca Nannelli and Rea’s WorldSBK Crew Chief, Pere Riba.

MISSING OUT ON A PODIUM: an incredible battle for fourth

The battle for fourth was decided on the line in a battle with four riders looking to finish as high up as possible. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was battling with teammate Yari Montella throughout the race and the pair were involved in the scrap for fourth place, with Oncu coming home in fourth. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph), who started ninth, battled his way up to fifth place ahead of Montella in sixth and Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in seventh; with just three tenths separating the four riders.

TAKING HOME A TOP TEN: close battles throughout the field

Matia Casadei (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), standing in for the recovering Niki Tuuli, took a top eight finish as he withstood the challenge from Swiss rider Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) in ninth as they battled on the final lap. Spanish rookie Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) continued his impressive start to his maiden WorldSSP campaign with tenth place.

SCORING POINTS: rounding out the top 15

Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph) took him 11^th place as he battled with Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) in the closing stages of the race with the Hungarian rider finishing in 12^th place. Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha), returning from injury, was 13^th ahead of another rider coming back from injury with Leonardo Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in 14^th. Replacement rider Nicholas Spinelli (D34G Racing), standing in for Filippo Fuligni, scored 15^th place on his first race in WorldSSP.

TO NOTE FROM RACE 1: housekeeping from Misano

Ducati riders Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) and Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) both had crashes during the race, with both bringing their bike back to the pits and returning to the race three and four laps down respectively, being classified in 22^nd and 23^rd.

There was drama on the opening lap at Turn 8 when Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) and wildcard Matteo Patacca (Renzi Corse) all crashed at Turn 8; with Booth-Amos and Patacca retiring from the race. Booth-Amos was taken to the medical centre and declared unfit with a right wrist fracture. The incident will be investigated by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards after the race. On the opening lap, Glenn ban Straalen (EAB Racing Team) had a technical issue and he retired from the race. Jeffrey Buis (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) crashed out on Lap 3 at Turn 13 which put the 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion out of the race, while Ben Currie (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) retired following a Turn 4 crash on Lap 6. Patrick Hobelsberger (Kallio Racing) retired from the race after eight laps while Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing), Kyle Smith (VFT Racing) and Unai Orradre (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP) all retired.

The top six following WorldSSP Race 1, full results here:

1 Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)

2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.006s

3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.080s

4. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +16.959s

5. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) +16.991s

6. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +17.028s

Fastest Lap: Nicolo Bulega, Ducati – 1’37.765 (New Lap Record)

Watch Sunday’s WorldSBK action in style from Warm Up at 09:25 Local Time (GMT+2) on Sunday using the WorldSBK VideoPass!