WorldSBK: More From Saturday’s Races At Mandalika

David Swarts

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November 12, 2022

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WorldSBK: More From Saturday’s Races At Mandalika

Razgatlioglu wins WorldSBK’s 900th race, Bautista second

The Turkish rider took the Race 1 win by 4.324s, Bautista and Rea completed the podium

Toprak Razgatlioglu (1) won World Superbike Race One. Photo courtesy Dorna.

P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

After obliterating the lap record to take pole position, Razgatlioglu won Race 1 at Mandalika.

He crossed the finish line with a 4.324s advantage for his 30th victory.

He remains second in the Championship standings with 450 points.

“Today, I am very happy because we are very strong. In FP3, it was a very good lap time and in Superpole it was an unbelievable lap time! For me, it was important to win the race. It was good for me but not easy for anybody because of the very hot conditions. In the race, I made just one mistake, but I didn’t crash. In corner six, I touched the dirty line and in corner seven I closed the gas because the rear was sliding. I felt the sliding after I touched the gas. I went wide because it wasn’t possible to turn. Afterwards, I remember Marc Marquez who had a very big crash here. Always, I am just scared of corner seven because you have just one line and you try to ride this line. You are always thinking this but sometimes make a mistake.”

Alvaro Bautista (19) finished second in Race One. Photo courtesy Dorna.

P2 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Bautista battled with Rea to secure second place.

He will still be able to take the title in the next race, the Tissot Superpole Race. He will be Champion if he finishes first and Razgatlioglu is eighth or lower.

“Today, I’m happy with second position. I think it was the maximum we could achieve today. For sure, Toprak is very strong this weekend and the pace was amazing. Sincerely, I didn’t expect this pace for all the race, maybe in the first lap doing ’33s but then slow down, but he could keep the pace. In the end, I didn’t have such a good Superpole because I had some troubles during the session, and I couldn’t make a perfect lap and started from fifth. I had a good start, I gained some positions and then at the beginning, with 60 centimetres of good asphalt, it’s easy to make a mistake. So, I just wanted to be clam at the beginning, try to not make mistakes and to not go out of the good line. Then I started to fight with Andrea and Jonathan. When I was second, Toprak was first with a gap. But even if I had been closer, I don’t think I could have caught him because his pace was really good. I tried to keep focused and do my best. And today the best was finish second so I’m happy for that.”

P3 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

With 425 points, Rea is now mathematically out of title contention as he lost ground to Bautista by finishing third.

“The race was better than expected. Yesterday I had a really difficult Friday. I was riding the bike, not in a nice way. I was very aggressive on the bike with the low grip surface. Step by step, my team understood how to make changes, how I needed to ride, and it really helped me. Today I was much closer to fighting with Toprak in the beginning today, and then with Alvaro a little bit. I didn’t expect to be there. A podium was my target. We achieved that. I think we can learn a lot more for tomorrow to try to make changes to the bike, generate some more rear traction. Today I was worried about my front tyre, it didn’t look good but in Parc Fermé it looked so much worse than the others. Everyone is struggling in that area, but rear traction we need to try to improve for tomorrow. We’ll put our head together and try to improve there for tomorrow.”

P4 – Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

Locatelli claimed fourth place to take his firth top-five finish since Estoril.

“It’s a positive day for me and my team. We worked hard from Friday. Unfortunately, during the race, I lost the opportunity to follow Jonathan and Alvaro because in the end my rhythm was similar to his. We’ll try again tomorrow. I’m really excited to have had my first front row, it’s important for me, for my future, and to believe in myself. In the end, it was a positive day and we’re looking for tomorrow. I think we can finish the weekend in a good way.”

P5 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Rinaldi was fighting for fourth but eventually conceded four seconds to Locatelli.

“I started quite well from a bad position. But then in the first laps I couldn’t do my pace. I wasn’t feeling good with the bike. But then after six laps, the bike started to feel really good. So, I started to push, and I overtook the other riders until five laps from the end, I overtook Locatelli and was fourth. But then the last three laps, I had a huge drop of the rear tyre, and I couldn’t turn, go inside of the corner with the angle. For sure, I’m happy about the pace in the middle of the race because it was similar to the top guys. So, I’m happy about that. We need to improve the first five laps and the last four laps. And if we can do that, we can fight for the podium tomorrow.”

P6 – Xavi Vierge (Team HRC)

Vierge was the sole Team HRC rider in Race 1 as Iker Lecuona was declared unfit after crashing in FP2.

“It has been a really difficult day. The track is getting better every session so it’s really difficult to understand the changes on the bike, if we’re going in the right direction or not. But anyway, I think we are doing a good job. We had a solid race. It was important to not make mistakes. We are missing a little bit to try to make a step forward to try to fight for a better position tomorrow.”

WorldSBK action resumes on Sunday from 08:30 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Tissot Superpole Race at 10:30 and Race 2 at 13:30.

WorldSBK Results Race 1

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +4.324s

3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +11.855s

4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +19.954s

5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +23.992s

6. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) +27.114s

Championship standings (after Race 1 – Round 11)

1. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) Ducati (527 points)

2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (450 points)

3. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (425 points)

WorldSBK Results Tissot Superpole

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’31.371s

2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +1.052s

3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +1.092s

The start of World Supersport Race One. Photo courtesy Dorna.

Tuuli takes his first win since 2017; Aegerter is the 2022 WorldSSP Champion

The Championship was decided in Race 1 as Baldassarri crashed and Aegerter claimed his second consecutive title

Dominique Aegerter clinched his second straight FIM Supersport World Championship. Photo courtesy Dorna.

With 437 points, Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Team) was crowned WorldSSP Champion for the second time as he finished in fourth place.

Reflecting on his 2022 season, where he also won the MotoE™ World Cup to take two world level titles in one calendar year, Aegerter said: “A fantastic job we did this year. Three races before the end, we got the second World Championship. We also got the MotoE™ title. We had 15 race wins, 17 podiums and my worst place this season was a fourth place when I finished the race. We had a fantastic season. For me, a second dream come true to be World Champion again. I want to dedicate this Championship to my family, my friends, to all the sponsors, the Ten Kate Racing team and Yamaha. They helped me to be there and I hope, next year, we can continue in a good way. I’m feeling ready to jump up to WorldSBK and I can’t wait to ride it for the first time in December with the GRT Yamaha team.”

P1 – Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)

Tuuli won Race 1 taking his first victory since Magny-Cours 2017. It was also the first one for MV Agusta since 2017.

He finished with a 3.528s lead over Caricasulo.

“It’s been a great day. Pole position and a victory like in Magny-Cours 2017. It’s been a long time since the last victory and even since the last podium last year. This year has been difficult. We have a new bike, I had a really bad injury with my toes. It took a bit of time to recover but I did my best from home to train. In Portimao, it was already better. In Argentina, I had a chance to be on the podium, but I made a mistake. Today I feel really strong. I was here really fast last year but now we have a better bike. I’m really happy. Thanks to my team!”

P2 – Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing)

Caricasulo was second for his third podium in a row.

He now stands in sixth place in the Championship standings, only five points behind Manzi.

“I’m really happy about today because I was angry after Superpole because I was fighting for pole position, but I crashed. In Race 1, I really wanted to do better. It was a very hard race because of the hot conditions, and the track layout … it’s very difficult for the body with lot of changes of direction. It was difficult also because our front tyre dropped 80% after six laps. I managed to not make any mistakes for the whole race. I’m very happy. Now let’s wait for tomorrow because I think we can do better.”

P3 – Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)

Despite leading for several laps, Oncu ran off at Turn 7 conceding the lead to Tuuli and took third place overall.

His 16th podium maintains Oncu in third place in the Championship standings with 232 points.

“Yesterday was really difficult for me. Today I woke up and I thought ‘yes! Today is a good day’. We did a good qualifying and then Kenan called me and told me ‘come on, you can do it!’, he trusts me and told me I could win the race. But I lost so much grip. Thanks to everyone who supported me! We didn’t crash and we have one more podium. I think we increased our gap in the Championship standings so I’m really happy.”

The newly crowned World Champion Dominique Aegerter crossed the finish line in fourth place. He first battled with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) as he made the move at Turn 16 on Lap 16 before he chased down Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). The pair battled hard right until the line with Aegerter wrapping up the Championship with fourth place; just 0.008s ahead of Montella. Montella himself had a four-second gap to Bulega as he took sixth place.

To note:

Title contender Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) crashed out in the opening stages of the race. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) took seventh place after he was given a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding following an opening lap collision with teammate Hannes Soomer.

WorldSSP resumes on Sunday from 08:55 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up followed by Race 2 at 12:00.

WorldSSP Results Race 1

1. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)

2. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +3.528

3. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +4.226s

4. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +6.029s

5. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +6.037s

6. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +10.034s

Championship standings (after Race 1 – Round 11)

1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (437 points)

2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) Yamaha (352 points)

3. Can Oncu (TUR) Kawasaki (232 points)

WorldSBK: Race One Results From Mandalika

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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WorldSBK: Race One Results From Mandalika

WSBK R1
WSBK R1 Points

World Supersport: Race One Results From Mandalika

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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World Supersport: Race One Results From Mandalika

WSS R1
WSS R1 Points

WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu Dominates Superpole Qualifying At Mandalika

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu Dominates Superpole Qualifying At Mandalika

WSBK SP

World Supersport: Tuuli Breaks Lap Record, Takes Pole At Mandalika

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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World Supersport: Tuuli Breaks Lap Record, Takes Pole At Mandalika

WSS SP

MotoGP/World Superbike: It’s Gigi’s World (Updated)

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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MotoGP/World Superbike: It’s Gigi’s World (Updated)

First Person/Opinion:

by Michael Gougis

Walking back to the media center after the post-race podium ceremonies at Valencia, I heard a cheer go up between the Ducati transporters parked behind the garages. I looked down from the walkway and I saw Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna in the midst of a crowd of admirers. Several of them were hugging him. Others held up the banner that identified them as the Gigi Fan Club.

Let’s go over that one more time: Ducati racing’s general manager has his own fan club.

You might write this off as a manifestation of the gloriously abnormal passion of Italian fans for motorsport. It is, much like in Spain, one of the major national sports, part of the broader culture. I was in Italy earlier this year and walked into a tiny roadside café on a Sunday afternoon. Two old, old men were watching the Formula One race on a big TV. When the second Ferrari blew up, they got up and walked out. Could not have cared less about who won, because they knew that a Ferrari wouldn’t.

Luigi "Gigi" Dall'Igna and his creations. Photo courtesy Dorna. — Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna and his creations. Photo courtesy Dorna.

And with crowds of varying Ducati aficionados roaming the circuit at Valencia, culminating with a group of Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia fans crashing the official media debriefing wearing red wigs and singing, “We Love You, Pecco” to the tune of Paul Anka’s famous hit, well, it’s easy to write the Gigi Fan Club off as just another facet of Italian motorsport passion.

Don’t.

The record books will record Pecco as the 2022 MotoGP World Champion. And he is as worthy as they come. But the reality is that Dall’Igna won this title. He’s been working toward this goal for a very long time, and it is as much his as anyone else’s.

Luigi "Gigi" Dall'Igna (right) with factory Ducati MotoGP racer Jack Miller (left). Photo courtesy Dorna. — Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna (right) with factory Ducati MotoGP racer Jack Miller (left). Photo courtesy Dorna.

Desperate for someone to rescue them after the failed Valentino Rossi experiment, Ducati lured Dall’Igna away from Aprilia, where he had engineered a couple of Superbike World Championships with Max Biaggi. The company really was at an emotional low. They had given a nine-time World Champion the best MotoGP bike they could build, and he could barely drag it onto the podium. And things weren’t going much better in World Superbike. Dominant in the production racing series for years, Ducati hadn’t won a title there since 2011.

Under Dall’Igna, things got better. Fighting against the force of nature that is Marc Marquez at his finest, Ducati first started winning races, then battling for the rider championship. For three years running, Ducati finished second, and was runner-up four of the five seasons previous to 2022.

Ducati unleashed an army of machines against the MotoGP field in 2022, and shared data and updates freely. The factory machines, and their preparation, were impeccable. Photo by Michael Gougis.

All the time, Dall’Igna was working to build a foundation for the team. Instead of crushing year-old bikes, Ducati started handing them to satellite teams. Perhaps having learned from the attempt to pin all its hopes on a superstar rider, Dall’Igna also started improving the quality of the equipment that the satellite teams had, and started to improve the rider quality of those teams.

When a downcast Johann Zarco was looking for a ride in 2020 and turned down the offer of racing on the third-string Ducati team, it was Dall’Igna who assured him he would have better equipment than that team had had in the past, and would be paid a salary. Zarco was on the podium that year and nearly won a race.

The Mooney VR46 Racing Team, in its first year, took a second-place GP finish, matching the best finish of the Repsol Honda factory team. Photo by Michael Gougis.

Dall’Igna correctly reasoned that the more riders and teams on Ducatis, the more data the team would have on what worked. Data was shared. New riders, like Bagnaia, got time to learn on a satellite team, without the pressure of the factory squad but with factory machinery. Ducati now has eight bikes on the grid, and Zarco is the unofficial in-race tester for new components. Do not underestimate the value of data gathered on race weekend by eight very fast riders on your constantly updated equipment.

And Dall’Igna looked at the rule book carefully to determine what it said he could do – and what it didn’t say he couldn’t do. The Desmosedici sprouted wings, ducts, scoops, fins. And again, make no mistake as to how important this stuff is. At Valencia, Jorge Martin was asked what had caused the recent uptick in his results. “The fairing – 100 percent,” he said without hesitation.

Francesco Bagnaia (63). Photo courtesy Dorna.

Ban on electronic “shape-shifting” devices? Gigi stroked that graying beard and thought, is there another way to do that other than electronic? Hence the complicated hydraulic systems that interlace across a modern Desmosedici.

And all that technology got passed down to all of the satellite riders, eventually, because their feedback flowing back to the factory squad helped all Ducati riders refine these complicated missiles.

The culmination of all of Dall’Igna’s effort is the GP22, perhaps the most effective MotoGP machine ever. It holds lap records. It took more poles, more wins, than anyone else in 2022. All eight of its riders sat on the front row at least once when the lights went out on Sunday.

Perhaps the moment that best illustrated just how far Gigi has dragged Ducati came on Tuesday afternoon. New recruit Alex Marquez, the only rider to switch to the Bologna brand for 2023, ended the day happy, his ever-present smile not looking forced at all, as it did often while he struggled fruitlessly with the troubled Honda RC213V in 2022.

Alex Marquez got thrown off his Honda RC213V a lot this season and struggled to a series of unremarkable finishes. He got on the Ducati at the post-season Valencia test and was smiling. Photo by Michael Gougis.

It was in sharp contrast to visage presented by his brother Marc, who flat told the media that the bike he tested wasn’t good enough to win the 2023 Championship, and that of outgoing World Champion Fabio Quartararo, who looked just short of despondent about the performance of his prototype Yamaha YZR-M1.

And the coolest thing is that as soon as the post-Valencia MotoGP test was over, Dall’Igna was flying to Mandalika, where factory Ducati Superbike rider Alvaro Bautista has more than a good chance of sealing the title, giving the factory both Championships in a single season, something that has never happened.

MotoE: LCR Re-Signs Granado For 2023

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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LCR E-TEAM RENEWS CONTRACT WITH ERIC GRANADO FOR 2023

11 November 2022

Brazilian rider Eric Granado will continue to ride for the LCR E-Team in 2023 after a very successful first season together.

Eric Granado finished 2nd in the 2022 FIM MotoE World Cup with 5 victories and 8 podiums. While this season has been a personal best for Eric, it was also the most successful season for the LCR E-team. Eric became the most successful LCR E-team rider to date. Their goal for 2023 remains the same, to fight for the title.

Eric Granado

“It’s amazing for me to continue with LCR. They trusted in me this season and we did a great job, we achieved the 2nd position, my best position ever in MotoE, my best season ever with 5 victories and 8 Podiums. It was amazing, I am very happy with the job all the team did. I am really looking forward to the next season where we have a different bike, more races, new track, and now it’s a World Championship…which means much more. I am very happy to remain with this team and to be ready to fight for the top from beginning until the end, do my maximum as always. I would like to thank Lucio and the team for trusting in me again. I look forward to achieving great things together again”

Lucio Cecchinello

“Eric has always been a very competitive rider in the MotoE category and it has been an honour to work with him for the very first time in the 2022 season. We fought for the title until the last round. The fact that we’ve agreed to renew the contract for the 2023 makes me very proud and of course together with my technical staff we’ll do our best to supply the most performing bike package for the next MotoE season. I can’t wait!”

MotoGP: Fuel Capacity Limit Set For New Sprint Races

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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MotoGP: Fuel Capacity Limit Set For New Sprint Races

The FIM Grand Prix Commission has made a number of decisions regarding Sporting and Technical regulations for the 2023 season. See them all in the following PDF. As always, use the scroll and zoom tools at the bottom of the PDF viewer to better see all of the pages.

Decisions_of_the_Grand_Prix_Commission_04_November_2022_

Lightning & Enevate Claim 10-Minute Recharge For New EV Battery

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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Lightning & Enevate Claim 10-Minute Recharge For New EV Battery

ENEVATE AND LIGHTNING MOTORCYCLES PARTNER TO COMMERCIALIZE A BREAKTHROUGH BATTERY FOR AN ELECTRIC MOTORCYCLE THAT CHARGES NEARLY AS FAST AS FILLING A GAS TANK

THE HIGH-PERFORMANCE MOTORCYCLE CHARGED IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES FOR AN ADDITIONAL 135 MILES

MOTORCYCLE BATTERY CHARGED AT 400 AMPS, CHARGE RATE NEARING 5C WHICH IS ALMOST 5X CONVENTIONAL EV BATTERIES

DEMO COMPLETED UTILIZING EXISTING PUBLIC CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE

TARGETING MOTORCYCLE PRODUCTION FOR EARLY 2023

IRVINE, Calif. – Enevate Corp, a pioneering battery innovation company featuring extreme fast charge and high energy density battery technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) and other markets, announced that it has partnered with Lightning Motorcycles to equip Lightning’s Strike Carbon motorcycle with Enevate’s EV-sized extreme fast charge advanced lithium-ion cells.

As part of product validation, Lightning integrated a 24-kWh battery pack with Enevate technology into the Strike Carbon e-motorcycle. 400 Amps were delivered at a charge rate nearing 5C. These blazing fast specifications result in a charge time of less than 10 minutes for an additional 135 miles. The charging time for similar production electric motorcycles is usually one to four hours. The pack was assembled using 47Ah Enevate pouch cells that began sampling in the second quarter of 2022.

The Strike Carbon prototype equipped with Enevate battery technology has successfully demonstrated the combined capabilities of the two companies, with now over 1,000 miles on the road while “refueling” at 350kW public charging stations. Importantly, The Lightning team led the system development and was able to integrate Enevate’s battery cells into the Strike Carbon platform to create the prototype. Lightning’s engineering team has been partnering with Enevate’s scientists and engineers since last year and have conducted numerous road tests.

“I want to thank our partner Lightning for their expertise and agility in developing state-of-the art hardware and software solutions which enabled us to deliver this high-end, ultra-fast charging motorcycle,” said Enevate CEO Robert A. Rango. “For the consumer, this means that riders of electric motorcycles with Enevate Technology can now ride all day alongside conventional motorcycles without being left waiting hours at the charger.”

“This has been an outstanding partnership with Enevate as together we push the boundaries in e-motorcycle innovation by achieving the fastest motorcycle charging rate reached from a public charger,” said Lightning Motorcycles CEO and Founder, Richard Hatfield. “For myself, and everyone at Lightning, building our products and company not only provides us with the opportunity to be part of something bigger and better, also allows us to contribute to progress in the relentless effort to save our planet.”

ENEVATE’S TECHNOLOGY

Enevate’s XFC-Energy Technology® for EVs features five-minute fast charging with high energy density and long driving range, with the added capability of low-temperature operation in cold climates, low cost, and safety benefits. This short charging time is superior to any other Li-ion technology available today to meet automotive EV requirements for energy density, range, safety, and cost. The company’s innovative, multi-layer design allows more energy to be safely packed into a single cell. The company’s XFC-Energy silicon-dominant anode requires a fraction of the space of a graphite anode used in a conventional cell. In fact, Enevate’s large-format EV size cells achieve over 850 Wh/L and 340 Wh/kg energy density without compromising safety or other performance metrics. This technology optimizes the silicon-dominant anode performance through a combination of electrolyte formulation, cell design, and cell formation that will enable Renault to deliver significantly faster charging and longer range for its future vehicles. In addition to EV performance benefits, Enevate’s silicon battery technology delivers up to 26 percent reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for manufacturing of EV batteries with Enevate’s XFC Energy technology compared to today’s conventional lithium-ion EV batteries (21 percent for NCA and 26 percent for NMC cells [kg CO2 eq. cradle-to-gate, per 1 KWh cell capacity]).

ABOUT ENEVATE (WWW.ENEVATE.COM)

Enevate develops and licenses advanced battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs), with a vision of EVs charging as fast as refueling gas cars, accessible and affordable to everyone, and accelerating EVs’ mass adoption. Boasting a portfolio of more than 500 patents issued and in process, Enevate’s pioneering advancements (including leveraging accelerated battery testing and machine learning) in silicon-dominant anodes and cells have resulted in battery technology that features five-minute extreme fast charging with high energy density, low-temperature operation for cold climates, low cost and safety advantages over conventional batteries. Enevate’s vision is to develop and propagate EV battery technology that contributes to a clean and sustainable environment. The Irvine, California-based company’s investors include Renault-Nissan Mitsubishi (Alliance Ventures), LG Chem, Samsung Venture Investment Corp, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Mission Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tsing Capital, Infinite Potential Technologies, Presidio Ventures – a Sumitomo Corporation company, Lenovo, CEC Capital, and Bangchak. Enevate®, the Enevate logo, HD-Energy®, XFC-Energy® and eBoost® are registered trademarks of Enevate Corporation.

ABOUT LIGHTNING MOTORCYCLES (LIGHTNINGMOTORCYCLE.COM)

Lightning Motorcycles produces high-performance premium electric motorcycles. Lightning products have been proven in competition against the best gas motorcycles in the world and have incorporated this innovation and experience to deliver a combination of performance, price and rider experience that positions Lightning to drive mainstream adoption of electric motorcycles. Lightning is currently producing two platforms in the company’s facility in Hollister, California and is preparing to expand production and extend its product line into several additional platforms to address the global market. For more information, please visit LightningMotorcycle.com.

WorldSBK: Lecuona Ruled Out With Fractured Vertebra

David Swarts

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November 11, 2022

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WorldSBK: Lecuona Ruled Out With Fractured Vertebra

Iker Lecuona ruled out of the Indonesian WorldSBK round

Iker Lecuona has been declared unfit to compete in the remainder of the Indonesian WorldSBK round after a violent highside during the second practice at the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia saw him hit the ground hard at turn 4.

With the track offering more grip than it had in FP1, times immediately begun to tumble in FP2, Iker up into third when the unfortunate incident occurred. Lecuona was taken to the circuit medical center for an initial medical assessment and was later airlifted to the RSUD Provinsi NTB Hospital in Mataram for further tests. Following CT and MRI scans, doctors have diagnosed a stable fracture of the T12 vertebra (with no neurological damage) as well as a fracture to the left side of the sacrum. With no need for stabilization surgery, Lecuona has already been discharged from the hospital and will now rest and begin conservative treatment.

Earlier in the day, Team HRC had in fact enjoyed one of its strongest first outings of the season. Despite high temperatures and the fact that the track offered very little grip after recent resurfacing, Lecuona and Xavi Vierge were able to soon build confidence with what is a new track for them both. Quickly improving on their times on what was a dirty and slippery track, Lecuona had finished the first practice session in second place, followed by team-mate Vierge in fifth.

Vierge spent session two making a few small setup changes that clearly worked and allowed him to pick up the pace and lap almost three seconds quicker than he had during FP1. Setting an impressive best of 1’35.022 in the final minutes, Xavi projected himself into eighth position overall by the end of day one.

Xavi Vierge 97

P8

“A positive day, albeit a rather challenging one due to the track conditions and the fact it’s a brand-new track for us. I simply love the layout but with the tarmac resurfaced just recently, the grip is terrible right now. As the day progressed, a line formed and there was more grip there, but the outer line is still so dirty. It was so easy to crash at the slightest “mistake” and it was hard to go fast without making mistakes. Having said that, we made good progress throughout the day while also collating useful information so that we can try to make a step tomorrow and get closer to the top guys. I wish Iker all the best and hope he will soon be fit and ready to return.”

WorldSBK: More From Saturday’s Races At Mandalika

November 12, 2022

The start of World Superbike Race One. Photo courtesy Dorna.

Razgatlioglu wins WorldSBK’s 900th race, Bautista second

The Turkish rider took the Race 1 win by 4.324s, Bautista and Rea completed the podium

P1 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

After obliterating the lap record to take pole position, Razgatlioglu won Race 1 at Mandalika.

He crossed the finish line with a 4.324s advantage for his 30th victory.

He remains second in the Championship standings with 450 points.

“Today, I am very happy because we are very strong. In FP3, it was a very good lap time and in Superpole it was an unbelievable lap time! For me, it was important to win the race. It was good for me but not easy for anybody because of the very hot conditions. In the race, I made just one mistake, but I didn’t crash. In corner six, I touched the dirty line and in corner seven I closed the gas because the rear was sliding. I felt the sliding after I touched the gas. I went wide because it wasn’t possible to turn. Afterwards, I remember Marc Marquez who had a very big crash here. Always, I am just scared of corner seven because you have just one line and you try to ride this line. You are always thinking this but sometimes make a mistake.”

P2 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Bautista battled with Rea to secure second place.

He will still be able to take the title in the next race, the Tissot Superpole Race. He will be Champion if he finishes first and Razgatlioglu is eighth or lower.

“Today, I’m happy with second position. I think it was the maximum we could achieve today. For sure, Toprak is very strong this weekend and the pace was amazing. Sincerely, I didn’t expect this pace for all the race, maybe in the first lap doing ’33s but then slow down, but he could keep the pace. In the end, I didn’t have such a good Superpole because I had some troubles during the session, and I couldn’t make a perfect lap and started from fifth. I had a good start, I gained some positions and then at the beginning, with 60 centimetres of good asphalt, it’s easy to make a mistake. So, I just wanted to be clam at the beginning, try to not make mistakes and to not go out of the good line. Then I started to fight with Andrea and Jonathan. When I was second, Toprak was first with a gap. But even if I had been closer, I don’t think I could have caught him because his pace was really good. I tried to keep focused and do my best. And today the best was finish second so I’m happy for that.”

P3 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

With 425 points, Rea is now mathematically out of title contention as he lost ground to Bautista by finishing third.

“The race was better than expected. Yesterday I had a really difficult Friday. I was riding the bike, not in a nice way. I was very aggressive on the bike with the low grip surface. Step by step, my team understood how to make changes, how I needed to ride, and it really helped me. Today I was much closer to fighting with Toprak in the beginning today, and then with Alvaro a little bit. I didn’t expect to be there. A podium was my target. We achieved that. I think we can learn a lot more for tomorrow to try to make changes to the bike, generate some more rear traction. Today I was worried about my front tyre, it didn’t look good but in Parc Fermé it looked so much worse than the others. Everyone is struggling in that area, but rear traction we need to try to improve for tomorrow. We’ll put our head together and try to improve there for tomorrow.”

P4 – Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

Locatelli claimed fourth place to take his firth top-five finish since Estoril.

“It’s a positive day for me and my team. We worked hard from Friday. Unfortunately, during the race, I lost the opportunity to follow Jonathan and Alvaro because in the end my rhythm was similar to his. We’ll try again tomorrow. I’m really excited to have had my first front row, it’s important for me, for my future, and to believe in myself. In the end, it was a positive day and we’re looking for tomorrow. I think we can finish the weekend in a good way.”

P5 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)

Rinaldi was fighting for fourth but eventually conceded four seconds to Locatelli.

“I started quite well from a bad position. But then in the first laps I couldn’t do my pace. I wasn’t feeling good with the bike. But then after six laps, the bike started to feel really good. So, I started to push, and I overtook the other riders until five laps from the end, I overtook Locatelli and was fourth. But then the last three laps, I had a huge drop of the rear tyre, and I couldn’t turn, go inside of the corner with the angle. For sure, I’m happy about the pace in the middle of the race because it was similar to the top guys. So, I’m happy about that. We need to improve the first five laps and the last four laps. And if we can do that, we can fight for the podium tomorrow.”

P6 – Xavi Vierge (Team HRC)

Vierge was the sole Team HRC rider in Race 1 as Iker Lecuona was declared unfit after crashing in FP2.

“It has been a really difficult day. The track is getting better every session so it’s really difficult to understand the changes on the bike, if we’re going in the right direction or not. But anyway, I think we are doing a good job. We had a solid race. It was important to not make mistakes. We are missing a little bit to try to make a step forward to try to fight for a better position tomorrow.”

WorldSBK action resumes on Sunday from 08:30 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Tissot Superpole Race at 10:30 and Race 2 at 13:30.

WorldSBK Results Race 1

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)

2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +4.324s

3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +11.855s

4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +19.954s

5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +23.992s

6. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) +27.114s

Championship standings (after Race 1 – Round 11)

1. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) Ducati (527 points)

2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR) Yamaha (450 points)

3. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (425 points)

WorldSBK Results Tissot Superpole

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’31.371s

2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +1.052s

3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +1.092s

Tuuli takes his first win since 2017; Aegerter is the 2022 WorldSSP Champion

The Championship was decided in Race 1 as Baldassarri crashed and Aegerter claimed his second consecutive title

With 437 points, Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Team) was crowned WorldSSP Champion for the second time as he finished in fourth place.

Reflecting on his 2022 season, where he also won the MotoE™ World Cup to take two world level titles in one calendar year, Aegerter said: “A fantastic job we did this year. Three races before the end, we got the second World Championship. We also got the MotoE™ title. We had 15 race wins, 17 podiums and my worst place this season was a fourth place when I finished the race. We had a fantastic season. For me, a second dream come true to be World Champion again. I want to dedicate this Championship to my family, my friends, to all the sponsors, the Ten Kate Racing team and Yamaha. They helped me to be there and I hope, next year, we can continue in a good way. I’m feeling ready to jump up to WorldSBK and I can’t wait to ride it for the first time in December with the GRT Yamaha team.”

P1 – Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)

Tuuli won Race 1 taking his first victory since Magny-Cours 2017. It was also the first one for MV Agusta since 2017.

He finished with a 3.528s lead over Caricasulo.

“It’s been a great day. Pole position and a victory like in Magny-Cours 2017. It’s been a long time since the last victory and even since the last podium last year. This year has been difficult. We have a new bike, I had a really bad injury with my toes. It took a bit of time to recover but I did my best from home to train. In Portimao, it was already better. In Argentina, I had a chance to be on the podium, but I made a mistake. Today I feel really strong. I was here really fast last year but now we have a better bike. I’m really happy. Thanks to my team!”

P2 – Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing)

Caricasulo was second for his third podium in a row.

He now stands in sixth place in the Championship standings, only five points behind Manzi.

“I’m really happy about today because I was angry after Superpole because I was fighting for pole position, but I crashed. In Race 1, I really wanted to do better. It was a very hard race because of the hot conditions, and the track layout … it’s very difficult for the body with lot of changes of direction. It was difficult also because our front tyre dropped 80% after six laps. I managed to not make any mistakes for the whole race. I’m very happy. Now let’s wait for tomorrow because I think we can do better.”

P3 – Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)

Despite leading for several laps, Oncu ran off at Turn 7 conceding the lead to Tuuli and took third place overall.

His 16th podium maintains Oncu in third place in the Championship standings with 232 points.

“Yesterday was really difficult for me. Today I woke up and I thought ‘yes! Today is a good day’. We did a good qualifying and then Kenan called me and told me ‘come on, you can do it!’, he trusts me and told me I could win the race. But I lost so much grip. Thanks to everyone who supported me! We didn’t crash and we have one more podium. I think we increased our gap in the Championship standings so I’m really happy.”

The newly crowned World Champion Dominique Aegerter crossed the finish line in fourth place. He first battled with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) as he made the move at Turn 16 on Lap 16 before he chased down Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). The pair battled hard right until the line with Aegerter wrapping up the Championship with fourth place; just 0.008s ahead of Montella. Montella himself had a four-second gap to Bulega as he took sixth place.

To note:

Title contender Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) crashed out in the opening stages of the race. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) took seventh place after he was given a Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding following an opening lap collision with teammate Hannes Soomer.

WorldSSP resumes on Sunday from 08:55 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up followed by Race 2 at 12:00.

WorldSSP Results Race 1

1. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse)

2. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +3.528

3. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +4.226s

4. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +6.029s

5. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +6.037s

6. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +10.034s

Championship standings (after Race 1 – Round 11)

1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (437 points)

2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) Yamaha (352 points)

3. Can Oncu (TUR) Kawasaki (232 points)

WorldSBK: Race One Results From Mandalika

November 11, 2022

Mandalika International Street Circuit. Photo courtesy Dorna. — Mandalika International Street Circuit, in Lombok, Indonesia. Photo courtesy Dorna.

WSBK R1
WSBK R1 Points

World Supersport: Race One Results From Mandalika

November 11, 2022

WSS R1
WSS R1 Points

WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu Dominates Superpole Qualifying At Mandalika

November 11, 2022

Toprak Razgatlioglu (1). Photo courtesy Yamaha.

WSBK SP

World Supersport: Tuuli Breaks Lap Record, Takes Pole At Mandalika

November 11, 2022

Niki Tuuli (66) on his MV Agusta F3 800. Photo courtesy MV Agusta Reparto Corse.

WSS SP

MotoGP/World Superbike: It’s Gigi’s World (Updated)

November 11, 2022

Some of Ducati Corse General Manager Luigi “Gigi” Dall'Igna's fans at Valencia, as seen in this picture from Dall'Igna's Facebook page. Yes, Gigi has his own fan club.