HEAD TO HEAD: how do teammates stack up against each other in 2022?2022-07-07 08:43With four rounds of the 2022 season completed, the patters in the head-to-head battle against teammates is starting to become clear… 12 races have been completed in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship across four rounds at four circuits, and it is a good chance to look in detail at the head-to-head battles that are ongoing at the five factory teams. Only one rider in the field has an 12-0 advantage over his teammate in the races this season, while there is one factory team where the two teammates are almost tied in their head-to-head battle when it comes to races. 12-0 IN BAUTISTA’S FAVOUR: the Spaniard leads Rinaldi at Ducati The only ‘whitewash’ score line in racing this season comes at Aruba.it Racing – Ducati, with Alvaro Bautista leading teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi 12-0, with Rinaldi’s only non-finish of the season coming at Assen in Race 1. Bautista also records the highest average finishing position on the grid, with 1.67; the Spaniard the only rider to score a podium in all 12 races this season. Across a round, Bautista is currently averaging a mammoth 55 points per round, the highest of anyone, nine points higher than Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and almost 20 more than Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK). REA TAKES AN EARLY LEAD: the six-time Champion leads 11-1 in racing Rea holds an 11-1 advantage over teammate Alex Lowes in the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK battle, with Lowes only finishing ahead of Rea in Race 2 at Assen. Rea also leads 3-1 in the Superpole battle, with Lowes scoring a better result than Rea at Assen. Rea is, along with Bautista, one of only two riders to have an average finishing position when finishing races below 2.0, while Lowes averages 5.89 when finishing races. With Lowes having not finished three races, and Rea only one, plus Rea claiming consistent podium finishes, the six-time Champion has scored 184 of KRT’s 259 points, or 71.04%; the most one-sided share of points on the grid. THE CHAMPION LEADS: Razgatlioglu leads Locatelli at Yamaha From the most one-sided share, to the closest. Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK have 249 points to their name this season, shared 141-108 in favour of Razgatlioglu ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli. In percentage terms, Razgatlioglu has scored 56.63& of the team’s points with Locatelli scoring the remaining 43.37%. In terms of race results, Razgatlioglu leads 10-2 with Locatelli beating his teammate when the reigning Champion has had retirements: in Race 2 at Assen and in Race 1 at Misano. Courtesy of never qualifying outside the first two positions in 2022, Razgatlioglu has an average Superpole position of 1.50 with Locatelli on 5.25s; the Italian never taking a Superpole result outside the top six this season. THE CLOSEST HEAD-TO-HEAD ON THE GRID: Lecuona and Vierge inseparable at Team HRC Rookies Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge have both impressed in the early rounds of the 2022 season following their switch to Team HRC, and it is showing as the closest battle on the grid in terms of head-to-head scores. Lecuona leads 7-5 in races and 3-1 in Superpole sessions, but interestingly the duo are tied when it comes to full-length races at 4-4. The scores are impacted by two Vierge crashes, in the Assen Superpole Race and Misano Race 2, but it still keeps the battle close. On average in Superpole, the pair have been separated by just 0.322s in Lecuona’s favour, although this is skewed slightly by Assen where the gap was 0.656s; at Aragon and Estoril, it was 0.326s and 0.314s respectively in Lecuona’s favour while Vierge was 0.008s ahead at Misano. THE HARDEST TO JUDGE: circumstances at BMW prevent a full comparison The BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team is still the hardest to compare due to the circumstances of the rider line-up. While Michael van der Mark returned for his home Dutch Round and the Estoril Round directly after, he injured himself again in a crash in practice and did has not taken part in any race since Assen Race 2. Illia Mykhalchyk stood in once again at Misano alongside Scott Redding, with the Brit leading van der Mark 3-0 in races and 1-0 in Superpole this season; the duo have only taken part together in the Dutch Round where van der Mark was still recovering from his first injury. Superpole head-to-head: Aruba.it Racing – Ducati: Alvaro Bautista 4-0 Michael Ruben Rinaldi Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea 3-1 Alex Lowes Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu 4-0 Andrea Locatelli Team HRC: Iker Lecuona 3-1 Xavi Vierge BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: Scott Redding 1-0 Michael van der Mark Race head-to-head: Aruba.it Racing – Ducati: Alvaro Bautista 12-0 Michael Ruben Rinaldi Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea 11-1 Alex Lowes Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu 10-2 Andrea Locatelli Team HRC: Iker Lecuona 7-5 Xavi Vierge BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: Scott Redding 3-0 Michael van der Mark Source: WSBK Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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