News

The 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is set for an intriguing battle at the front of the field this weekend with the Prosecco DOC UK Round at Donington Park. After the first day of action, it was clear that some riders had strong pace whilst others didn’t look as comfortable as in other points of the year. We take a look at the race pace below, with some surprises in store for the weekend ahead.

CLASS OF HIS OWN: Rea has half a second in hand

With far and away the best race pace, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) seems to be in a class of his own at a circuit at which he’s enjoyed plenty of success at over the years. The Kawasaki rider set an incredible 13 1’27s, more than the total of his competitors combined to finish the day more than half a second clear of his rivals. In the middle part of the session, Rea set nine laps, featuring seven 1’27s, whilst his final run saw three of them back-to-back and his fastest time of a 1’27.016s being under the race lap record. He has been on mighty form and with five wins for Kawasaki at the track, the pace indicates that another may be on the way and that 500^th podium for Kawasaki may well be secured.

PODIUM BATTLE: Razgatlioglu under attack from Redding and Lowes?

However, nothing is certain in WorldSBK and the battle for the podium looks to have a slightly new complexion to it for the Prosecco DOC UK Round. Second on day one, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) is no stranger to success at the British venue but even he couldn’t match Rea’s frantic Friday form. Two 1’27s and ten 1’28s were the headlines for the reigning World Champion, with a ten-lap stint in the middle of the session seeing laps range from a 1’29.2 to a 1’27.5, with most of them being in the mid-to-high 1’28s. There’s work to do for Razgatlioglu but he’s not out of the running yet, with FP3 and Tissot Superpole still to come.

Enjoying his best day of the season with the BMW M1000RR, Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was back inside the top three on raw pace and proved that the new swingarm was working well. His pace sees him right in the podium fight and perhaps even a threat for Toprak at this stage of the weekend; four 1’27s – two more than Razgatlioglu – and 14 1’28s show Redding’s pace is very strong at a circuit he missed out on a podium at in 2021. His final run was particularly impressive, where he set his fastest lap time of a 1’27.588s, along with two other 1’27s and a run of 1’28s, despite one getting cancelled. Scott Redding may well just be on the money this weekend, as he chases a first podium for BMW.

Likewise eager for his first podium of 2022 is Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with the Englishman racing at home and putting in a mighty day of work. Staying out on one tyre in the morning session, Lowes once again worked on race pace in the afternoon. Three 1’27s and 18 1’28s, of which most, like Razgatlioglu, came in the mid-to-high range, showcase what Lowes may well be able to do this weekend. He’s got good memories of Donington Park with a podium coming there last year and he wants to do it again this season too. His final seven-lap run saw two 1’27s and four 1’28s, whilst his 17-lap run at the start of the session saw all but three laps in the 1’28s (one 1’27 was cancelled along with a 1’28, whilst the other was a 1’29.1). Are Lowes and Redding set to topple Razgatlioglu and ruffle the titanic trio?

BRIDGING THE GAP: Bautista and Rinaldi need something extra

Eager to find pace at a circuit they’ve not won at in over a decade, Ducati didn’t enjoy a first day to remember at Donington Park. Whilst both Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi were both inside the top six, neither looked convincing, although for Bautista, his pace is within podium reach. Three 1’27s accompanied by 14 1’28s show signs of good pace and whilst Bautista can for a few laps get down into the low 1’28s, the runs he did aren’t always sustained. He will be there come the race but with the strong pace of those ahead of him, he’ll have work to do to secure a podium charge and even more time to find if he wants to fight for a first Donington Park win.

For his teammate Rinaldi, he only set one 1’27 and it was his final lap of the session before a crash, so perhaps he has more in the locker. Like Bautista, he can get down into the low 1’28s but his runs weren’t long enough to deduce anything meaningful from that in terms of whether he can make it into the podium battle. After a successful test with Ducati at Misano and two podiums from the races there, Rinaldi does come to Donington Park on a high and with a new way of working in his side of the garage, he could be battling his teammate tomorrow.

OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN: Honda aiming to come on strong

As was to be expected, the all-rookie line-up at Team HRC of Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge was mostly spent learning the Donington Park circuit on a competitive level. Vierge had never visited whilst Lecuona only did a track day in between Misano and the fifth round of the season. Talking lap times for Lecuona, he was able to do a 1’28.509s but is yet to consistently cement himself into the 1’28 bracket, thus probably keeping him out of the top six contention right now, although with more track time to come, don’t be surprised to see him bridge the gap.

There’s slightly more concern on the other side of the garage as Xavi Vierge could only manage 18^th after the opening day. He hasn’t broken into the 1’28s at all and whilst coming back from a nasty injury picked up at Misano, the Spaniard probably didn’t expect to be that far down. A new track to learn, more time will be key on Saturday morning. Only six laps in the 1’29s and the majority in the 1’30s, there’s pace to be found although with neither Honda crashing, there’s a lot to be said for gathering data and not making an already tricky situation more difficult. Expect them to come further forward throughout the remainder of the weekend.

Watch the Prosecco DOC UK Round LIVE and UNINTERRUPTED with the WorldSBK VideoPass!