Race 1 of the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” featured a pair of hair-raising battles for the podium positions. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) took the gloves off and sparred for who would claim the podium behind the distant Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) ahead of them battling for the race win. Both riders wanted to pop the cork on Race 1’s Prosecco, as Lowes, his resurgent Bimota manufacturer, is searching for its first podium since 2000; however, Petrucci emerged victorious, raising his tally to 18 career WorldSBK podiums.

PETRUCCI PLAYING DEFENCE: “I was waiting for the chequered flag like it was waiting for my birthday!”

‘Petrux’s Race 1 began from back in P8 as he had an uncharacteristically slow Tissot Superpole result, up to P6 after just a single lap, he closed in on the podium and found himself behind the #22 by Lap 3. The fifth lap of the race saw the #9 make his move, cutting past the British rider to establish himself in P3. From there, however, the real work began as Petrucci had to bite the bullet and withstand Lowe,s who besieged the Italian and his coveted podium position. The pair traded overtakes, and the bout was only settled by a margin of 0.140s, but in the end, ‘Petrux’ prevailed.

On his Misano Race 1, Petrucci said: “It was a really really nice race; it was my first WorldSBK race here at Misano. It’s not my favourite track and it’s a shame because its not far from my home and lots of people always come here, but it was a dream for me to stand on the podium in front of this crowd. It was tough starting from the third row, and I got bumped pretty hard by someone on the second corner, but I managed to find my way. I managed to pass Alex, but then when I was in front, I was stuck, and it got really difficult from there. He tried to overtake me, I overtook him, and from there on out, I was just waiting for the chequered flag like it was waiting for my birthday! The track was so hot and greasy that it was hard to deal with, but the team did a great job.”

“He has a lot of experience, and he put his bike in the right position to not give me any chances to pass.” – Lowes on his duel with the #9

Coming into Misano Race 1, Bimota has been on a gradual positive trajectory; both riders are hot off some of their season’s best results at Most, and they each sit in respectable positions within the top 12 in the Riders’ Championship rankings. While his teammate Bassani suffered an unfortunate Lap 2 lowside, spoiling his front row-earning Superpole performance, and his strong jump off the line, Lowes carried the bimota flag forward as he looked to claim podium glory for the returning Rimini-based manufacturer. While he was unsuccessful, the progress Bimota look to be making makes a podium finish for their Italian English pair look more and more like a matter of time.

On his and his teammate Bassani’s Misano weekend so far, Alex Lowes said: “It was a great race, we’re happy with fourth, the team have done a great job all weekend. Axel and I have been pretty fast, with this being his home race and our team’s home race. He did a fantastic job in qualifying, and I was happy with my lap times as well. As for the race, I knew I was going to be quite strong in the second part of the race, but where I was fastest were in places I couldn’t really pass from. I was gaining a lot of time in some of the faster corners, but I couldn’t really get in a position to pass. I tried to pass Danilo with about 5 laps to go, and I think if I could have gotten past, I could have gotten a gap as I felt I had a bit more speed. He has a lot of experience, and he put his bike in the right position to not give me any chances to pass. I feel like our bike has a lot of corner speed and turns well, but the last part of the race when the tires drop so we need to try to improve that part.”

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