2023 World Superbike - Round 5 - Misano

I was out this weekend, but starting this thread for continuity.

It was another weekend of Bautista mopping the floor with the competition. The only noteworthy activity in Superbike was Petrucci taking a wrecking ball to Lecuona and also to the GRT Yamaha boys. Rea also struggled and still trails Locatelli in the championship. Redding is done, imo. He's psychologically defeated or he really doesn't know what to do with the new swingarm. In race 2 he was the last BMW to cross the line. That includes being beaten by Sykes, who has been slow this season and is not particularly familiar with the BMW.

World Supersport is another story. Manzi made headway against Bulega at Barcelona, and he was able to match Bulega by wining an entertaining contest with Bulega in Race 2. When Oncu is healthy he will probably throw a spanner in the championship as well. Could get interesting. A lot of people have Bulega on the 2nd factory Ducati next year, but we'll see.

PRS717 said:

When Petrucci went down he did not move and I feared the worst. Thank God he's okay as well as the other riders. Remy went down really hard too. Bautista's run is getting a little ridiculous. Rinaldi didn't do himself any favors in race 2. And Gerloff again the fastest BMW. Could we see a Gerloff / Toprak team next year or is Gerloff contracted to stay where he's at?

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BMW could move Gerloff up. His crew chief, Les Pearson, seems to be really solid, and BMW would be smart to get him on a factory contract. If Gerloff moves up, it's really Pearson they are after, imo, and Gerloff is just coming with him. Seems like Pearson was the reason the satellite Yamaha was on the pace at one point, and he's the reason Gerloff is making steps forward on the BMW.