Marco Butti bounced back from retirement in Race 1 at Misano to a podium result in the second race, fighting young drivers’ trophy rival Eric Gené to the finish, and despite a mixed season of results, is still firmly in the title battle, just 38 points from the points lead.

The Italian started third on the grid, but had a bad getaway in his MM Motorsport Honda, but soon recovered the spot he lost to the rival Honda of Felipe Fernández on lap two, and then chased down the leading duo to the finish. Despite 

“It was a difficult one for sure, as the temperature was really high,” said Butti.

“We tried to look after the car and the tyres, so we could be the fastest on track in the last five minutes so we could make some moves on Gene and Clairet, but all the cars had a similar pace.

“At the end, I needed to score some points, so I made sure to finish P3. Thanks to the team, the car was really good today. We’ve been struggling a bit as we’ve been having a lot of bad luck this year. We’re still there fighting for the championship, even with four fewer races than everyone else, so we need to try something different.”