What an amazing season it has been for Ducati across multiple international championships. Álvaro Bautista came out victorious for 2023 on his Aruba.it Ducati V4 R in the World Superbike Championship. Check out all the best shots!
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 628
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 552
3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 370
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 327
5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 251
Both Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista went down at Turn 4 in FP2, while Toprak Razgatlioglu had an FP1 crash at Turn 10.
It also warrants mention that Gardner impressively recorded the fastest lap time on both days of the post-season test at Jerez, which will certainly give him some crucial confidence heading into next year.
An incredible move at Turn 3 allowed Bautista to claim victory using the #1 plate after a wet first race of the year in Australia started the season in style.
Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took 12th on his WorldSBK debut on home soil, finishing ahead of teammate Dominique Aegerter in 13th.
Bautista started from second place but got the holeshot at the start of the race before being passed by Rea, who took his 378th WorldSBK start in Race 1 and moved ahead of Troy Corser.
Behind the leading duo, it was a bit of a lonely race for polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) as he finished in third place but six seconds down on Bautista.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) was another who gained places throughout the race as he took seventh place.
Philipp Oettl concluded Day 1 in fifth as the fastest Independent rider.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the lead Ducati rider in second ahead of teammate and 2022 WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista, with only 0.035s separating them.
Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took seventh spot after he lost time and positions on the opening lap after he was forced wide by Dominique Aegerter.
Behind the two Ducati riders, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) claimed his first podium of the season with third place.
Razgatlioglu looked to make a move around the outside of Lowes heading into Turn 4 on Lap 17. Lowes lost the front of his ZX-10RR machine heading into Miller Corner, the right-hand hairpin, which collected Razgatlioglu.
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) was able to fight his way up to sixth place behind Oettl and Bassani while double WorldSSP Champion Dominique Aegerter.
Rea’s second was his 247th in WSBK, as well as his 24th at Assen which puts the track level with Aragon and Portimao.
Rea crashed out in the first half of the race, promoting Bassani to third, Locatelli then fought for the podium spot…
The battle for the lead involved Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the early stages of the race with all three taking their chance to lead throughout the race.
Bassani was fifth at the end of the race, ahead of Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who passed Lowes and Redding in the closing stages, in sixth.
History was made in WorldSBK at Assen as Ducati claimed their 400th WorldSBK win after Bautista’s hat-trick.
As the race approached the final few laps, Bautista started to pull out a gap over Rea to claim victory in the Superpole Race and claim first on the grid for Race 2.
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) went head to head with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK).
Bautista’s victory gave him his 46th win in WorldSBK and is now on a streak of 10 consecutive wins in WorldSBK, while he also has 14 wins in 15 races this season with his fourth hat-trick of the season.
Bautista was one of two riders to use the SCX tyre as everyone else opted for the new SCQ at Misano.
Bautista and Rinaldi gave the Italian fans something to cheer by taking a race one Ducati 1-2 at Misano.
Razgatlioglu had to withstand some early pressure from Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) but the 2021 Champion was able to resist that pressure before pulling out a gap over his rivals.
WorldSBK Misano Tissot Superpole.
WorldSBK Misano Tissot Superpole.
Second gave Razgatlioglu his 100th WorldSBK podium and his 16th consecutive rostrum finish; the joint sixth-longest all-time streak.
The reigning Champion battled hard for victory at Imola as he edged closer to history while Toprak Razgatlioglu claimed his 100th podium on Saturday.
Rea racked up his 252nd podium, while Razgatlioglu and Rea have now shared the podium 75 times together.
The opening laps were a sensational fight in front of the passionate Italian fans.
There was little to separate the pair throughout the first two-thirds but an error from the Turk allowed Bautista to pass him on the run down to Rivazza 1.
On Lap 8, Bassani made his move on Razgatlioglu for first. He looked to overtake into the Villeneuve chicane first but that didn’t work out, before he went up the inside of his rival at the left-hand hairpin of Tosa.
The Turk was able to hold on despite last-lap pressure from the defending Champion to claim his third win of the season and close the gap in the Championship standings by three points.
Toprak Razgatlioglu denied Axel Bassani an emotional maiden victory but gained 25 points on Alvaro Bautista as the reigning Champion crashed out.
The Superpole Race was a stunning affair in Italy as Razgatlioglu beat Bautista by just 0.244s to secure a win.
Razgatlioglu was able to claim his 36th career win and his 102nd podium, while it was also Yamaha’s 410th in WSBK.
The opening laps proved to be beneficial for the wet tyre runners with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) storming away from fourth on the grid to have a six second lead over Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha) at the end of Lap 2.
Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) concluded the strongest weekend of his WorldSBK career with sixth as he finished three seconds down on Rinaldi.
Bautista didn’t get away well from the line as the lights went out but still found himself into the lead heading into Turn 1, before he tried to pull out a gap.
The win was his 50th in WorldSBK, but it was also a historic one: the 18th win of his season means he has now won more races in one season than any other rider.
Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) also didn’t stop as he claimed fourth place despite starting from the pitlane.
WorldSBK MOST Race One.
WorldSBK MOST Race One.
Rea was able to go with the wet tyre runners in the opening laps while other intermediate riders dropped down, including Razgatlioglu, before battling back.
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Jonathan Rea secured third after making gains before an early-race fight with teammate Alex Lowes, who initially passed the six-time Champion at Turn 5 for third, before falling behind the Ulsterman.
Two laps later and the two Champions were side-by-side throughout much of the lap, with Razgatlioglu holding on to second place before Rea tried another move a lap later.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) bounced back to claim victory in Race 2 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours as he took advantages of his rivals battling behind him.
The #65 looked to overtake his rival on Lap 3 through Turn 4 and into Turn 5 but the Yamaha star cut back, before Rea made a similar move on Lap 6 and made it stick.
Razgatlioglu now has 107 podiums to his name, only two fewer than Carl Fogarty, while Rea’s moved onto 259 podiums.
Six-time Champion Rea withstood a late charge from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) to claim third and his 258th podium and his 20th at the iconic French venue.
The #1 put in a series of race lap records to close the gap to his title rival but the 2021 Champion claimed victory by a second to become the first rider to win four consecutive races at Magny-Cours.
There was drama everywhere you looked in France was the title battle closed up again with Razgatlioglu winning ahead of Bautista.
Tissot Superpole Jerez.
At Turn 13, Bautista looked for a move on the inside before the Yamaha cut back to stay ahead on the straight.
Tissot Superpole Jerez.
A race that will live long in the memory: Bautista victorious in unbelievable Razgatlioglu fight with 38 passes for the lead in the final 10 laps, Rea tumbles on Kawasaki farewell.
Bautista got the holeshot when the 20-lap race got underway and immediately looked to pull out a gap over his rivals.
The #77 tumbled down the order in the opening stages after suffering a technical problem…
The two-time Champion continued his stunning form with victory in the 8-lap race…
Dominique Aegerter stormed to a maiden podium after he finished 1.5 seconds away from the two-time Champion.
Yamaha factory rider Mike Jones returned to his searing best with a double victory in the Alpinestars Superbike class at Queensland Raceway's round three...
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