Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) – the Italian who was promoted to the Reds’ works team in place of Chaz Davies on the domestic route on the Adriatic coast (© WorldSBK).

The 2nd day of testing for Ducati, Yamaha and Puccetti Kawasaki

At just over 10 degrees Celsius, a whole series of teams have been testing the newly asphalted track in Misano since Monday, March 15. Ducati organized the two-day test before moving on to Barcelona in just over two weeks. With the two Yamaha teams and Puccetti Kawasaki, two other makes took part. In addition to the works team, there are also all Ducati private teams. On the first of two days, Toprak Razgatlioglu already set Jonathan Rea’s 6-year-old lap record. He had set the previous best time on the Kawasaki ZX-10R in his first year for Kawasaki.

Lucas Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki ZX-10RR) – The Frenchman has achieved his big goal after winning the WorldSSP runner-up last year and will be in the top class of the near-series World Cup next season (© WorldSBK).

The times of the first of 2 days in Misano
Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1:34.265s, 71 laps
Scott Redding (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) 1:34.478s, 77 laps
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) 1:34.609s, 61 laps
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 1:35.076s, 68 laps
Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1:35.264s, 34 laps
Andrea Locatelli (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1:35.605, 76 laps
Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) 1:35.680s, 93 laps
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), 1:35.849s, 46 laps
Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1:36.523s, 57 laps
Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport – Yamaha) 1:36.978s, 57 laps
Michele Pirro (Team GoEleven), 1:37.162s, 11 laps

WorldSSP times from day 1
Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’38.081s, 38 laps
Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 1’38.497s, 62 laps
Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing) 1’38.780, 47 laps
Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’39.052s, 56 laps

Garrett Gerloff (GMT Yamaha) – the US-American has been testing for the first time on a European track since November 2020. He is also driving for the first time in Misano, as the two Italian races were canceled last year due to the pandemic (© WorldSBK).

Eröffnungssitzung mit roter Flagge in Misano

The day before, Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was the first driver on the track. Since then, the Turkish driver has set the best time to date on the track surface that was newly applied last year. After Garrett Gerloff suffered a crash at Turn 15 on the first day, it was Toprak who landed in the gravel on Tuesday morning. Then there were even red flags, but the protégé of WSSP record world champion Kenan Sofuoglu was luckily unharmed. GoEleven driver Chaz Davies is missing due to a positive Covid-19 test result and will only be back in Barcelona in 2 weeks. Then Jonathan Rea will also be there. The Northern Irishman is already training on site, including on a motocross track.

Also with us since March 15th – the “Krummenator” is celebrating its comeback this season after suddenly disappearing to Australia with strange background noises. So far, however, Philipp Öttl has been significantly faster than on the Puccatti Kawasaki ZX-6R Randy Krummenacher (© WorldSBK).

The times of the first session of day 2
Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’34.305, 30 laps
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’34.361, 32 laps
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’34.365, 24 laps
Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’34.449, 32 laps
Andrea Locatelli (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’35.173
Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) 1’35’324, 56 laps
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 1’35.942, 22 laps
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’35.943, 18 laps
Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’36.135
Christophe Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha) 1’36.392

Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) – the Catalan was not after the best times on the first day on the Ducati Panigale V4R, but rather concentrated on long runs and constant times (© WorldSBK).

Rinaldi with the final best time ahead of Toprak

Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was ousted as the new front-runner by Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) two hours before the end of the test. The local hero finished his test with a new lap record and undercut the best time of the Turk by almost two tenths. Tito Rabat, on the other hand, did not take part in the hunt for best times and again drove the most laps. The man from Barcelona obviously trusts his abilities and will be back at the Circuito de Cataluña. As is so often the case, the reigning world champion should be the yardstick for the rest of the drivers when Johnny Rea takes to the new ZX-10RR for the next time.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) – the fastest man in Misano is obviously already feeling very comfortable on the factory Ducati. In two weeks it will show whether he can keep up with the best in the world in Barcelona (© WorldSBK).

Final Standing Misano Tests
1. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’33.688, 59 Laps
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’33.886, 69 Laps
3. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’34.013, 67 Laps
4. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’34.361, 64 Laps
5. Andrea Locatelli (PATA Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1.34.794, 69 Laps
6. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’34.806, 58 Laps
7. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 1’34.847, 57 Laps
8. Kohta Nozane (BRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’35.003, 60 Laps
9. Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) 1’35.210, 106 Laps
10. Christophe Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha) 1’36.392, 27 Laps
11. Michele Pirro (Team GoEleven), 1:37.162s, 11 laps

The situation at Yamaha

As the people at Yamaha told us, Toprak and his crew chief Phil Marron focused on improving the steering and braking behavior of the YZF-R1. From Razgatlioglu’s point of view, this was one of the biggest problems last year. Further tests were also carried out with the new Brembo front brake caliper, which the Turk had already used in Jerez in November last year. In addition, a new air inlet, which should increase the speed and reduce the lift. In the end, Toprak was able to take second place with the improved 2021 engine. Teammate Andrea Locatelli was very satisfied as fifth and was able to pack up with good impressions. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Japanese rookie team-mate Kohta Nozane worked on developing a suitable basic setup for the coming season. Gerloff was among the top three on the track that was new to him and was accordingly satisfied.

Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) – The reigning Japanese SBK champion first had to adapt to the Pirelli tires, which were completely new to him, but after the first 2 days of testing he was quite satisfied with his progress (© WorldSBK).

WorldSSP combined times.
1. Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’37.711s, 52 laps
2. Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 1’37.795s, 54 laps
3. Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing) 1’37.974, 64 laps
4. Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’39.255s, 43 laps

Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) lost a good one and a half seconds to Philipp Öttl’s best time on the Misano track, which he knew very well. Either the young Turk has not yet revealed all the cards, or Öttl is already on a different level (© WorldSBK).