WorldSBK: Bautista takes sixth race win of 2023 despite grid penalty

Publish Date
04/22/2023

Despite having been demoted to fourth on the grid, Alvaro Bautista took the win in Race 1, finishing 3.148s ahead of Rea.

P1 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing - Ducati
“Today wasn’t as easy as people may think after yesterday’s practices. Because of the penalty, I started from the second row, and it was important to not lose a lot of positions at the start of the race and not be in the mix group taking some risks with other riders. I could make a good start and recover some positions. At the beginning, I fought a bit with Lowes, then when I was behind Toprak and Jonathan, I just was watching the track condition because today was a bit different from yesterday, so I had to understand how much I can push with this temperature and the wind was also different. After a few laps, I started to understand the track and I started to feel that I could push harder than the pace we had. I got to the lead and increased the pace by two tenths or something like that. Jonathan was there. I was surprised because in the practice he didn't have this pace, but in the race he could stay with me. With six or five laps to go, I saw the gap was increasing a little bit, so I tried to make another push and get some advantage and, it worked. I'm so happy to win again.”

Having started Race 1 from pole position following Bautista’s penalty, Jonathan Rea eventually took second. Third place went to Toprak Razgatlioglu as the Turkish rider finished 3.891s behind the race winner. Teammate Andrea Locatelli finished just outside the top three, 6.214s behind Razgatlioglu. Rookie Dominique Aegerter completed Race 1’s top six, claiming his best WorldSBK result.

WorldSBK Race 1 Report
There was no shortage of thrilling action in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the iconic TT Circuit Assen in Race 1 during the Pirelli Dutch Round as Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed a hard-fought victory in the Netherlands. He overcame his rivals and a three-place grid drop to fight his way from fourth place on the grid to finish ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the 21-lap race.

Bautista was given a three-place grid drop for the Race 1 grid for slow riding on the racing line in the Tissot Superpole session, which dropped him from pole position to fourth place. He was into the top three from the start before chasing down Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in second place. Razgatlioglu looked to close down Rea to put a bike between him and Bautista but the reigning Champion overtook Razgatlioglu at the chicane on Lap 5 to move into second place, before moving into the lead on Lap 9 when he overtook Rea at Turn 6 to move into the lead. Although Rea tried to keep the pressure on Bautista, the Spanish rider pulled a gap on the six-time Champion with the trio setting into their respective positions.

Fourth place went to a charging Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) after he moved up the order. He had been running in seventh place, behind Lowes, Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) but, as the laps progressed, he made his way up the order. Locatelli made a move on Lowes at Turn 5 on Lap 15 before following that up two laps later by overtaking Redding. He closed the gap to Bassani and overtook him on the last lap to claim fourth spot; continuing his record of not finishing outside the top five in 2023 and at the TT Circuit Assen. 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.

WorldSBK action resumes on Sunday from 09:00 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Tissot Superpole Race at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00.

WorldSBK Race 1 Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.148s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +3.891s
4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +10.105s
5. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +10.498s
6. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +13.952s

WorldSBK Championship standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 137 points
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 91 points
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 83 points

Dominant Bulega claimed Race 1 win at Assen as Schroetter takes maiden podium
It was pole position and race win for Nicolo Bulega as he took his third victory of the season finishing 4.017s ahead of Schroetter.

“Until now it is a perfect weekend because we started very well yesterday, and also, we were very good today. Pole position this morning, new lap record and victory in the first race… It's a perfect day for us. Thanks to the team because they did an incredible job this weekend. I'm very happy and we will try again tomorrow. I hope it will be dry because today it was fast, and we are we are sure that I'm fast and, but I also like rain conditions, so we have to be ready for both conditions.”

WorldSSP Race 1 Report
Three different manufacturers stood on the FIM Supersport World Championship podium in Race 1 at the TT Circuit Assen for the Pirelli Dutch Round as Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) claimed victory by more than four seconds ahead of his rivals.

Bulega started the race from pole position but initially lost out to Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) as the lights went out for the 18-lap race, but he was able to respond on Lap 1 to re-claim the lead. He was under early pressure from Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who quickly recovered from contact with Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) at the start, to move into second place where he could put pressure on Bulega.

Bulega resisted his pressure before starting to pull a gap to Oncu while the Turkish rider dropped into the clutches of home hero van Straalen, with the Dutch rider opting to use the SCX tyre while Oncu used the harder SC0 tyre. The Dutch rider closed in by a second on Oncu on Lap 12 before making the move on Oncu at Turn 5 on Lap 13. Van Straalen was able to then pull a gap to Oncu who had to focus on defending from the chasing pack, eventually dropping behind Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who passed him on Lap 16 for third place.

Van Straalen was ahead of the group but foundhimself under late pressure from rookie Schroetter who made the move on the final lap through the final sector to deny van Straalen second place, while claiming his first podium in WorldSSP with van Straalen settling for third in home soil; only 0.107s behind Schroetter and he also had the exact same margin over Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) who missed out on his maiden WorldSSP podium.

Fifth place went to Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) at the end of the race with the Italian consistently in the group fighting for the podium and he was only 0.152s behind Debise after 18 laps. Caricasulo took sixth place after running at the front the early stages of the race while Turkish star Oncu dropped down to seventh at the end of the race; more than one second behind Caricasulo but also with a similar margin to the riders behind.

WorldSSP action resumes on Sunday from 09:25 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Race 2 at 12:30.

WorldSSP Race 1 Results
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team)
2. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +4.017s
3. Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) +4.124s
4. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) +4.231s
5. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +4.383s
6. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) +4.655s

WorldSSP Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 102 points
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 70 points
3. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 66 points

Svoboda takes maiden victory in WorldSSP300 Race 1
Starting from 11th on the grid, Petr Svoboda claimed his first WorldSSP300 victory with a last lap overtake.

“I wanted to be in the first group soon as possible from the start and then make some pace to be at the front for the last five laps and then manage. I was second but Samuel did mistake in Turn 7, I think. And then I managed to overtake him and to stay in P1 and win. I didn't expect to take the win, but I did! I'm quite surprised because in the past, I had no luck on Saturday and I was stronger on Sunday. But this year I want to change this and, we will see what will happen.”

WorldSSP300 Race 1 Report
The opening race of the 2023 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship was a dramatic affair and not decided until the final corners of the 14-lap race as Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed his first victory of his WorldSSP300 career in Race 1 at the TT Circuit Assen during the Pirelli Dutch Round.

Svoboda made his move into the chicane on Lap 14 of 14 to move ahead of Samuel Di Sora (Prodina Kawasaki Racing) after the French rider went defensive on the final lap and he also made a mistake in the second half of the final lap. It allowed Svoboda to make a move into the chicane and he was able to take victory by 0.481s ahead of Di Sora, whose second place gave him his 12th podium in WorldSSP300 which puts him level with 2022 Champion Alvaro Diaz and 2017 Champion Ana Carrasco. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) completed the podium as he finished just 0.008s away from Di Sora in second place. It was Perez Gonzalez’s maiden podium finish in WorldSSP300, and it also gave Kawasaki their first podium lockout since Portimao in 2021.

German rider Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) took a hard-fought fourth position in his first race for the Austrian manufacturer, less than half-a-second away from Svoboda at the end of the 14-lap race. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) took fifth after a strong opening race of the season, holding off the challenge from Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) with the Italian taking sixth spot.

WorldSSP300 action resumes on Sunday from 09:50 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Race 2 at 15:15.

WorldSSP300 Race 1 Results
1. Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki)
2. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) +0.481s
3. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) +0.489s
4. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) +0.551s
5. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/A78 Latin America Team) +0.618s
6. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) +0.768s

WorldSSP300 Championship standings
1. Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) 25 points
2. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) 20 points
3. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) 16 points

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WorldSBK: Bautista takes sixth race win of 2023 despite grid penalty