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The problem: Baldassarri isn’t converting his pace into results.

Go Eleven Ducati’s home race was meant to be a highlight, but things went wrong at Misano. It wasn’t a lack of speed that prevented Lorenzo Baldassarri from getting anywhere near the podium.

Superbike WC

22.06.2026 - 13:13

This article is an automatically generated English version. The original article was published in German.

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Before the start of the season, critical voices dominated, but the World Championship rounds so far have shown that the rule changes are delivering exactly what was hoped for: excitement right up to the final lap.

With a third-place finish in the season opener at Phillip Island, Lorenzo Baldassarri made an impressive return to the Superbike World Championship – in fact, the Italian scored more points on the first race weekend than he did throughout the entire 2023 season with GMT94 Yamaha.

Baldassarri subsequently established himself as a reliable top-eight rider, with results fluctuating – including another third place in the Superpole Race in Hungary and a 13th place in the Sprint at Assen. Misano a week ago could have been one of his better race weekends. But it wasn’t to be. Starting from fifth on the grid, the Italian crashed in the first race on Saturday whilst running fourth in front of his compatriots in the fifth corner.

“Everything was going well up until qualifying. I’m sorry that I made a mistake in the race in front of my home crowd,” said the Ducati rider regretfully. “I was trying to get on the podium and I felt good. I knew I had good pace, but in Turn 5, when I changed gear, the front end broke away and I couldn’t save it.”

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After finishing fifth in the sprint, the 29-year-old’s second race ended in a lacklustre 15th place – despite setting the third-fastest lap of the race. However, the Go Eleven rider had previously lost twenty seconds on lap 4.

“Unfortunately, there were a few collisions in the opening laps, and coming out of Quercia I clipped another rider again, which caused my boot to come undone. I nearly lost control and had to stop to put it back on. I got back into the race, but by then everyone was already a long way ahead,” said Baldassarri, describing his encounter with Xavi Vierge (Yamaha). “Later on, I checked my pace and was significantly faster than the rider in third place. I was very efficient on used tyres, and I confirmed that today. I’m taking the feel of the bike and the pace I had on the track home with me, and I want to build on that!”

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One thing is clear: with just six World Championship points, the home race of all places was one of the worst rounds of the 2026 Superbike World Championship for Baldassarri and his team. “We’re leaving Misano with a bitter aftertaste,” Balda admitted. “We’re quick at the moment, but we’re not managing to bring home the results.”

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