Misano, Race 2: Third lesson from Nicolò Bulega (26) and Ducati

Deviating from the master schedule, the second Superbike race in Misano took place at 14:00. At the start of the race, the sky over the circuit was almost cloudless and the temperature had reached its hot peak at 33 degrees Celsius. The riders had to endure 21 laps. 76,170 spectators watched the sweat-inducing seventh meeting of the season on site.

The starting grid had not changed significantly as a result of the Superpole race. For the third time this weekend, Ducati factory riders Nicolò Bulega and Iker Lecuona were in pole position and second place on the grid. Yari Montella moved up one position to third on the grid.

After Ducati took the front row, row 2 was more colourful with Axel Bassani (Bimota), Lorenzo Baldassarri (Ducati) and Miguel Oliveira (BMW). The best Yamaha rider was Andrea Locatelli in eighth position, while Somkiat Chantra was the figurehead for Honda in 19th place on the grid.

Lecuona entered the first corner in the lead ahead of Bulega and Bassani. With a lightning start, Locatelli catapulted himself into 4th place, but Álvaro Bautista (Ducati) and Stefano Manzi (Yamaha) got in each other's way at turn 8 - while the Spaniard crashed and retired, the Italian was the last to chase the field.

Bulega took the lead on lap 1, followed by Lecuona and the Bimota riders Bassani and Lowes as well as Montella and Locatelli. The race was over for Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha) after a crash.

On lap 3, Montella broke away from the Bimota duo and passed Lowes to move up to fourth place, with Locatelli suffering the same fate behind him, having to let Alberto Surra go.

While Bulega stoically set the fastest lap times at the front, a lot happened behind him: Baldassarri apparently had a technical problem and dropped to the back of the field. Kawasaki rider Garrett Gerloff went off track and rejoined the field in 16th place. Dixon's replacement Ryan Vickers crashed, but continued the race with a gap.

After seven of 21 laps, Lecuona had set the fastest lap of the race in 1:32.735 minutes and was 3.2 seconds ahead of Lecuona, who had made several small mistakes. Bassani (3rd) defended his position against the pushing Montella. After the exhausting Superpole race, Oliveira headed for the pit lane. The best BMW rider was now Michael van der Mark in tenth position.

The gap between Bulega and Lecuona changed only slightly by the halfway point of the race. Astonishing: Baldassarri in 17th place set the same lap times as the factory riders - but the Italian was 11 seconds behind Gerloff (16th). Surprisingly, Chantra (13th) remained in a group that reached up to van der Mark in 10th place.

In the second half of the race, Bulega showed no sign of slowing down and continued to ride the best laps. Six laps before the end, the world championship dominator was 4.7 seconds ahead of Lecuona and 11 seconds ahead of Bassani and Montella, who continued to fight for the last podium place. Van der Mark, Xavi Vierge (Yamaha), Sam Lowes (Ducati), Chantra, Gerloff and Tommy Bridewell (Ducati) vied for 10th place.

Bitter: Bassani's Bimota suddenly ended up in the gravel on lap 17. The Italian lost control of the front wheel in turn 8 and crashed. Montella gratefully accepted the gift.

Nothing decisive happened in the top four on the remaining laps. Bulega claimed a hat-trick for the seventh time this year ahead of Lecuona and Montella - the same podium in all three races.

Alex Lowes in fourth for Bimota ensured a conciliatory result. Tarran Mackenzie (Ducati) completed the top five.

Andrea Locatelli crossed the finish line 22 seconds behind the winner in seventh place with his Yamaha brand colleague Remy Gardner. BMW nobleman Michael van der Mark finished ninth. There were also points for Garrett Garrett (12th/Kawasaki) and Somkiat Chantra (13th/Honda).