cohort with Locatelli a huge eleven seconds in arrears from the winner . Reigning champion Razgatlioglu ’ s weekend ended at mid-race distance with a technical fault handing him a DNF which left him obviously frustrated with the weekend , video showing him banging his fist on the tank of the bike as he sputtered back to the pits .
THREE FROM THREE Bulega ’ s three wins at Phillip Island gave him 62 points in total ( full length race wins award 25-points , the Tissot Superpole is good for another 12 points ) and the series lead by 36 points from teammate Bautista . Iannone , Petrucci and Redding hold down the the remaining top five positions for Ducati independent teams and only six points separates Bautista in second from the resurgent Redding in fifth . Best of the non-Ducati crew was Andrea Locatelli on 22 points in sixth . Razgatlioglu on 20 points sits in eighth a point behind Sam Lowes and a point ahead of Alex Lowes . In the manufacturers ’ standings , Ducati is sitting pretty on 62 points with BMW and Yamaha tied in second spot with 22 points . Bimota are just three points adrift .
OFF TO PORTUGAL Teams have two further test days at Portimao in mid-March ahead of Round Two at the same venue on March 28-30 . It ’ s already been confirmed that Jonathan Rea will not return for
that round and 2022 Moto2 World Champion Augusto Fernandez will be subbing for him on the Yamaha at Portimao . That he ’ ll be able to take advantage of the test days ahead of race weekend will be of significant help to him as this will be his first WorldSBK outing . Bulega , and arguably all of the leading Ducati riders , will go to Portimao on a high after such positive results from Round One . Razgatlioglu was uncharacteristically outspoken during and after the PI round , concerned that this year could turn into a Ducati Cup . Probably too early to say that ’ ll be how things turn out but the writing is on the wall . The non-Ducati teams have a lot of work to do . BMW ’ s loss of super concessions appears to have significantly changed the bike ’ s behaviour and lack of pre-season testing has limited the team ’ s ability to adapt to this new dynamic . Bimota should be satisified with its first outing , and Yamaha and Honda didn ’ t really perform any differently to how they did at the end of last season . Last words go to WorldSBK rookie Ryan Vickers on his first visit to Phillip Island . He covered it all with a simple ‘ What a circuit !’ after his first laps . The heat on Saturday was a whole new experience for him but both he and the Motocorsa Racing team performed well , walking away with 4 points from their first WorldSBK outing together and we ’ ll certainly see more from them as the season progresses . Roll on Round Two .
Nagashima
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