Sunday WorldSBK/SSP/SSP300 wraps from Catalunya

2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship

Round Four – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

WorldSBK Superpole Race

Rain started to fall in the Tissot Superpole Race and there was drama everywhere but none for Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as he claimed his second victory this weekend. There was a thrilling battle for the best of the rest as both Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and team-mate Andrea Locatelli battled their way to the rostrum.

Bautista led the field away from pole position while team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi surged up the order to move into second place as the race got underway. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was able to pass Rinaldi on the fourth lap at Turn 11 to move into second place as he looked to chase Bautista but the Ducati man had too much speed.

Light drizzle had started to fall in the second half of the race and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) took advantage of this to move into third place after a last-lap fight with Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) to continue his podium streak and secure a front row start for Race 2 alongside team-mate Razgatlioglu and Bautista.

Initially, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was in the fight for a front row start but a crash when he touched the white line under braking for Turn 1 put him out of the race.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was third after his team-mate crashed at Turn 1 but he dropped down to fifth on the final lap, missing out on fourth place by just 0.097s.

Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was sixth after starting from second place.

Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) continued his strong Barcelona form by taking seventh place after joining the podium fight in the final couple of laps and he was only 0.141s behind Aegerter at the end of the race.

Rinaldi eventually dropped down to eighth place to give him a third row start for Race 2. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) took ninth spot, there was just 1.5 seconds separating Razgatlioglu in second and Vierge in ninth.

Remy Gardner (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) retired from the race in the closing stages after a technical issue and he was the only other retirement alongside Rea.

WorldSBK Superpole Race Results

WorldSBK Race Two

Bautista secured his second consecutive hat-trick in Barcelona while there was a dramatic fight for second place that was decided on the last lap.

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Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) briefly took the lead on the opening lap, although it did not last long as Bautista recovered the lead of the race before then stretching away from team-mate Michael Rinaldi in second place. Rinaldi able to build a gap over third placed Razgatlioglu in the first half of the race after passing Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on lap five to promote himself into second.

It had looked like Rinaldi would finish in second place to lead home a Ducati 1-2, but his final lap was around two-seconds slower than Razgatlioglu and the 2021 Champion was able to overtake Rinaldi on the run to the line to take second place and secure Yamaha’s 400th WorldSBK podium, demoting Rinaldi to third.

Razgatlioglu had been able to pull out a gap over Lowes with the gap over a second by the start of Lap 17, allowing Razgatlioglu to claim his third podium of the weekend.

As the laps ticked down, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK),  closed in on his team-mate in the fight for fourth place but Rea was unable to get the better of Lowes. The KRT pair finished in fourth and fifth after Rea battled back from tenth place; he started there as a result of his Tissot Superpole Race crash.

While the KRT riders were fighting ahead, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was behind and losing time to the chasing Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) with Vierge passing him under brakes on the final lap to take sixth place. Locatelli was seventh, his worst finish of the year, and thanks to that consistency still holds down third place in the championship standings.

Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed eighth spot as he ended his Catalunya Round with a third top-ten finish after he battled with both Team HRC riders. He had looked at passing Vierge in the closing stages before the Spanish rider pulled away but he finished more than two-seconds clear of Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) who finished in ninth.

American star Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) finished inside the top ten for the third race in Barcelona as he took him top BMW honours.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) finished 11th, almost two-seconds down on a top-ten place. He had a similar margin behind him with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in 12th.

Two rookies finished in the final points-paying positions with Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in 13th and Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) in 15th sandwiching Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) in 14th place.

Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was 16th with Ivo Miguel Lopes (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) the last classified rider in 17th. The Portuguese rider was just 0.040s away from Baz at the end of the race.

Hafizh Syahrin (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) retired from the race after a Lap 1 crash at Turn 4, with Malaysian rider Syahrin taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the collision. Isaac Vinales (TPR by Vinales Racing) brought his machine into the pitlane and retired from the race in the first half of the 20-lap fight. Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) also brought his bike into the pits and retired after he had a technical issue.

WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Rider Quotes

Alvaro Bautista – 236 points

“The weekend has been perfect. We won three races and each race was a bit different, especially the Superpole Race. It was a bit scary in the last few laps because it started to rain, but not regularly. It was sometimes raining in the first sector, the next lap in sector three, the next one in four and two… leading the way was quite difficult because you never knew what to expect, the amount of water is on the track, so I was discovering the track every lap. It was the longest three laps of my life! For Race 2, the conditions were similar to Race 1 but maybe the grip was a bit lower because of the rain in the morning. I understood the track and I can keep my pace. I’m really happy especially to win three races here in Spain, in front of all the fans and my family, is always more special.

“Maybe it’s not my true home circuit but I feel very good here! I have always been very fast here, in my time in 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP I was quite strong. Today, the weather was a bit complicated. In the end, if it rained, no problem because I could do nothing, I’d have to adapt to the conditions. I always prefer a dry race. I feel good here, so I hope to have the same feeling in the next rounds that are coming.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – 167 points

“In Race 2, I am waiting for Michael’s tyre to drop earlier, because he was pushing a lot! I see in the last laps, he has trouble and I push hard – finally last corner I pass him! But I also am on the limit, the front tyre and rear tyre, brakes also many time locking – but we are second position and finish the race. This weekend was really good for me – okay we are not winning, but three times second position and taking good points for the championship. In the Superpole Race, when Jonathan crashed I release the brake directly because I don’t understand what happened, like if the asphalt is wet or dry, and I ride more calm in the last lap. I checked after if I push him outside or not because this is not my style, but then I see he went wide and touched the white line. He tried his best, I understand him! He is a really strong rider and for me always good to fight with him. Thanks to my team, we tried our best – I hope we are fighting for the win in Misano, we will see.”

Andrea Locatelli – 133 points

“Race 2 was a bit tricky, I don’t know why, but we fight from the beginning with really high vibration in the front and I needed to continue to fight. But actually, until the middle of the race I was quite happy because I was at the back of Toprak and Alex (Lowes), and the rhythm was good, the feeling was good. I continued to fight even with this vibration, but then also with the last five laps I had a big, big drop in tyre grip. In every weekend, something is changing with the conditions, the track and the tyres! Today, after the Superpole Race, I was really positive to have a good Race 2 and we were close to fight for the podium again, but honestly it’s another great weekend. We want every time to try to fight for the podium and this morning, I saw the opportunity that especially in the last sector it was not raining a lot so I tried to push and to recover because to start from P10 was really difficult! To get P3 and start from the front row was really good – I am a bit disappointed then about Race 2, but I have to thank the team and Yamaha for the really good job over the weekend.”

Jonathan Rea – 100 points

“I touched the white line and crashed in the Superpole Race. When Toprak came past, I felt it was quite close and he was not aiming at the corner but aiming towards me to open up the line. He gave me space – but at 320kmph there was wind buffeting that knocked me around a little bit. I was wide, caressed the white line and that was enough to put me down. I was really frustrated because it was a complete knock-on effect for Race Two. Starting from tenth place on the fourth row, I had to clear traffic in the beginning. The Honda guys in the first laps were buzzing around, attacking me as I was attacking them. Then Locatelli – he was really good in some areas of the track, especially the last sector. Everywhere else I was able to catch him. But in doing so I was abusing my tyre a little bit. When I had clear track towards Alex and Toprak I thought the race was going to come to me and I would catch them. But they just kept going and I feel like I had experienced too much tyre consumption in those early laps. Although I could not catch Alex and Toprak it is encouraging that Alex had such a good race as well. We were able to compete for podiums here. So, not the weekend we dreamed of, but I think it ended up better than expectations after Friday’s practice sessions.”

Dominique Aegerter – 73 points

“It’s a learning process. Today we achieved our best Tissot Superpole Race result, where our pace was not too bad. The final laps were tough due to drops of rain, but we still managed to finish P6. Unfortunately, our start in Race 2 was not too great, we dropped a couple of positions and then we had to fight back, but it wasn’t too easy overtaking the other riders. Anyway, we go home with more good points for the championship and another two times being the best Independent Rider, which is nice. A big thanks to the team for the job done, now we’ll focus on the next rounds to improve even more.”

Michael Rinaldi – 72 points

“It was a very special weekend in which everything happened. In the Superpole Race I was going strong, I was fighting for the podium, but when some drops started to fall I had to focus on not falling in order to protect my right hand. In Race 2 things went very well even though in the last two laps the rear tyre dropped a lot more than expected. Toprak caught me but it doesn’t matter. It’s still a nice podium.”

Xavi Vierge – 68 points

“I think we reacted in the best way possible following what was a demanding start to the weekend, our performance on Sunday better than Saturday. I need to thank the team because they never give up, just like me. We always work hard over the week to understand which way to go. We made good progress and grew a lot during the weekend to finish race two a solid six. So I’m happy about that and also because we made some changes to the bike setup that gave me much more feeling. That was a positive, also because we’ve understood more about the set-up and this could help in the next races. Of course, Catalunya is a track where you really have to consider tyre wear, so when I saw the fight for the podium not far ahead with 10 laps to go, I pushed a bit more than necessary but immediately felt the drop in tyres. So despite my heart telling me to go for it, I kept my cool and maintained the fastest possible pace in the circumstances. On the last lap I took my chances in passing Locatelli and we collected some good points. Our bike has some very strong points – it’s a rocket and that’s good at tracks with a long straight, like Aragon for example, but we cannot profit from this through the corners or on short straights so at the moment our window is a little tight, but we are all focused on improving across every area and we’ll keep giving 100 per cent to get where we want to be.”

Alex Lowes – 62 points

“My pace is good, I can be fast when we have grip and the conditions allow it. Then I can be really fast. But we have had front tyre issues this year and on Friday afternoon at Catalunya, I was in trouble. On Saturday we made quite a drastic change and I struggled to understand the front of the bike. Today we went back to the settings from the test we did here earlier this year, and then tried to manage that. We got a bit lucky because it was nearly 20°C lower on the track surface compared to Race One on Saturday, which is good for our bike. I made a good start in Race Two, rode well in the race and managed it at the end. I was able to do a good job. I can’t ride much better than that. I had a good start, made no mistakes and was riding on the limit every lap, so and I know I am riding well. As a team we need to all work together to try to close the gap and make some steps forward.”

Iker Lecuona – 56 points

“We changed something on the front of the bike in warm-up, adjusting things after a little issue we had yesterday, but I still felt I was missing something during the Superpole race. Having said that, thanks to those drops of rain I realised it was time to try and take a chance. I had a good battle with different riders and then Locatelli in the last lap and only just missed out on the podium. So P4 in the end, but I was pleased with that, and also with my grid position for race 2. My feeling with the bike was completely different in race 2 to be honest, and from lap eight onwards I found myself struggling with the tyres and realised I couldn’t do any better. Anyway, it is what it is, and we must now check all the data and understand why this was the case today, because the weekend was actually positive overall. I think the team did a good job, so it was a pity we didn’t better exploit our potential at this track. I’m a little frustrated with how today went, but I think we are on the way and will now focus on next week’s test where we hope to keep improving.”

Danilo Petrucci – 55 points

“I really struggled to accept yesterday’s verdict because it was all a misunderstanding with the marshals. I didn’t have it with me when I went to be weighed but I raced with the chest protector. I don’t want to talk about it, but it’s another reason why I really wanted to do well today. I had good feeling with the bike, particularly in braking. I had to push hard to stick with the second group, but we were there and could have finish as the best of the independent riders, but just as I was about to go on the attack, I suffered a drop in tyre performance and lost two positions. I’m sorry because the team and I are really working hard, but the results don’t reflect this. We look ahead anyway and will keep working step by step.”

Remy Gardner – 46 points

“To be honest, that was a tough weekend. We struggled to find a competitive pace, but we got to improve the qualifying, which was helpful for the feature race. Unfortunately, I was forced to retire in the Superpole race due to a technical issue and had to start from P11 in the last feature race. Anyway, we’ll have a test next week and we hope to ride in the dry to take some good data and improve our performance. I’d like to thank the team for the job done, let’s stay positive and just focus on what’s next.”

Garrett Gerloff – 39 points

“I’m so happy with the Superpole race. The bike felt awesome. I was there with the group and was super happy about my best finish so far this year. Seventh place isn’t where I want to be, I want to be higher up, but we have to take the positives and we are going in a good direction. That was super good. In the main race, I had an epic start. I was in sixth place in the beginning, I was super happy. But we went with the harder compound rear tyre and I had a big moment because I had no edge grip. On the last corner of the first lap, I almost had a huge highsider. Then two guys passed me and I was just struggling with the tyre. It was difficult to go forward. I was able to stay with the Hondas in front of me, but in the end, I’m a little disappointed. I feel we had the pace to be closer, but I made that big mistake on the first lap and it’s just a bit of a shame. Anyway, it’s still a top ten and I know that Jürgen Röder and the team want a top ten, so I’m happy to give them that. But we all want more and I know we can do more. Overall, I think it was a positive weekend and I’m ready for Misano now.”

Scott Redding – 34 points

“The Superpole race was not really good, to be honest. I just can’t find the speed with the bike here. I am struggling quite a lot. I thought the Superpole race would be better, but with the better pace from the other guys it was more difficult for me. Then in race two today I felt that I could maybe stay there a bit more and I stayed in the group longer, but I was pushing so hard to be there that in the end I destroyed the rear tyre completely so that it was unrideable, and I also destroyed the front tyre. But this is because I needed to work so hard to just stay with the group and here I’m overriding the bike. So I am a little bit upset with the results this weekend. We knew that it would be hard here but we tried anyway. Now we get back to the drawing board and work for the next race.”

World Superbike Championship Points

WorldSSP Race Two

Championship leader Nicolo Bulega struggled in the opening laps dropping to seventh position then two laps from the end his Ducati called it a day due to an electrical problem.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) took his first win in WorldSSP after fending off a challenge from both team-mate Marcel Schroetter and Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in a thrilling three-way battle for victory in Spain.

Sofuoglu once again got a good start from ninth on the grid to put himself in the lead group in the early stages and was soon in the lead of the race but it was a fierce fight for the win with Sofuoglu, his team-mate Schroetter and Manzi who completed the podium positions with just 0.500s separating the top three at the end of the race. Manzi crossed the line in second but was demoted one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap at Turn 8.

Sofuoglu’s victory meant he became the third Turkish winner in the Championship after his uncle, Kenan, and Can Oncu and it was Turkey’s 45th win in WorldSSP as well as the country’s 100th podium.

Schroetter’s podium gave him his third podium in his first full season in the Championship while Manzi moved onto nine podiums.

Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) continued his strong form since the Championship returned to Europe with fourth place with the French rider one of several riders who was able to lead throughout the race. He finished more than four-seconds clear of Dutch rider Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) who fended off Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) to take fifth.

Caricasulo was trying to attack van Straalen in the closing stages but he also had to fend off Nicholas Spinelli (VFT Racing WEBIKE Yamaha) who took seventh place ahead of Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) in eighth. Just over a second separated van Straalen in fifth and Tuuli in eighth place after a thrilling fight for the high-scoring points-paying positions.

Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed ninth spot, two seconds down on Tuuli, while Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) rounded out the top ten.

Australian rider Tom Edwards (Yart-Yamaha WorldSSP Team), who was a surprise fourth in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session, finished in 11th for his best WorldSSP result so far; Edwards was just four-tenths away from a maiden top-ten finish. Edwards was also the highest finishing rider amongst the European Challenge riders, a sub-category in the class for riders that are only contesting the European rounds of the championship.

Tom Edwards

“Really happy with our results this weekend, it’s a massive improvement from where we were in Assen just a few weeks ago. Every race brings a new lesson. I know where I need to improve and I’ll keep pushing. The team has been awesome this year, we’re all working together really well. For our first season as a team, I think we’re off to a great start. Look forward to making more and more progress.”

Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) claimed 12th place while Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), returning to replace the injured Can Oncu, scored points with 13th place ahead of Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) in 13th and Adrian Fernandez (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team); Fernandez, making his WorldSSP debut, scored his first points in the Championship.

The left big-toe fracture suffered by Bayliss at Assen a fortnight ago proved to be an insurmountable obstacle also on Spanish soil. Oli had an excellent start to the first race and made his way up to eighth place, but as soon as lap eight began he was already unable to feel his foot, which translated in a significant loss of ground and positions. In race two, the situation had worsened a little and after running wide on lap seven, he retired from the encounter.

Oli Bayliss

“After the good start we had in day one, when we finished sixth, we knew that the following two days were going to be difficult given my foot injury. Qualifying didn’t go well, but in the first part of race one we were comfortably in the top ten. But as feared, after eight laps once again my foot went completely numb and struggled to keep it on the foot peg through the left turns, which obviously resulted in me losing a lot of ground and positions. Today we felt good during warm up, but in the race things were even a bit worse than on Saturday, as I struggled to shift gears. At one point I ended up in the gravel trap and after that I retired. It’s hard to have another weekend like this but we have a bit more of a break now to try and come back 100% fit. Thank you everyone for the support.”

Countryman Luke Power finished in 26th place.

Luke Power

“It was a difficult start to the weekend. I had to learn the track on Friday and sadly made a small mistake in FP1 which gave the team some work, but we made a step in FP2 which was positive. I made a big step in Superpole, and closed the gap to the front considerably and finally started to understand more about how these bikes need to be ridden. The position didn’t show the jump we made but it gave me a lot of confidence for the future qualifying sessions, especially with how I attacked right until the end. Saturday’s race was quite good. I made my best start of the year and was able to stay in the group I was with for the whole race. It was the first that I had finished, and I learned so much. I was good to get my elbow out with the guys around me who all have so much experience at this level than me. On Sunday was also positive. We tried something in warm up, but I made a mistake on lap two in race two. It was a bit of a lonely race, but my pace was as fast as a lot of the guys ahead, especially at the end of the race which is encouraging. I learned lots on track and also was able to put in place some things that helped me massively off track. Am really looking forward to Misano which is a track I have tested at so see you all there. A big thanks to the Motozoo ME AIR Kawasaki team, and to everyone who is supporting me.”

WorldSSP Race Two Results

World Supersport Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Race Two

Gennai’s win with Vannucci second meant Italy claimed their first 1-2 in WorldSSP300.  Buis backed up his Saturday victory with a second podium of the season.

In the championship points, after four races and two rounds, Svoboda still leads but now has 69 points, Gennai is second with 57, Di Sora is third with 50 points (despite his Race Two no-score) and Buis’s first and third places put him fourth overall, with 49 points.

WorldSSP300 Race Two Results

World Supersport 300 Championship Points

WorldSBK Catalunya Schedule
(AEST)

2023 FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar
Date	Circuit	WSBK	WSSP600	WSSP300
24-26 Feb	Phillip Island	X	X
3-5 Mar	Mandalika	X	X
21-23 Apr	Assen	X	X	X
5-7 May	Catalunya	X	X	X
2-4 Jun	Misano	X	X	X
30 Jun-02 Jul	Donington Park	X	X
14-16 Jul	Imola	X	X	X
28-30 Jul	Autodrom Most	X	X	X
8-10 Sep	Magny-Cours	X	X	X
22-24 Sep	Aragón	X	X	X
29-Sep-01 Oct	Algarve	X	X	X
13-15 Oct	San Juan Villicum	X	X