WorldSBK: Alvaro Bautista prevails in red-flagged Superpole Race

Alvaro Bautista wins the Superpole Race at his home round.

The Superpole Race was red-flagged after Dominique Aegerter’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) engine blew up on the second lap. This dropped oil on the circuit, causing Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) to go into the grave. The race was restarted with all riders eligible to start the Superpole Race – including Aegerter.

On the restart of the now eight-lap race, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had to fight to claim the race lead after a slower initial launch. After some fighting at the front, Bautista was able to build a comfortable gap.

At the line, just one day after winning the 2023 WorldSBK Championship, Bautista won the Superpole Race. In front of his home crowd, Bautista did the double with one more race left in the 2023 season.

Dominique Aegerter finished in second position and became the first-ever Swiss podium finisher. It is Aegerter’s first podium in his first season in the class after stepping up from WorldSSP.

Changes ahead for Rea and Razgatlioglu

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) entered his final day in green and had good pace in the Superpole Race. The Kawasaki seemed to be struggling with the softer tyre compounds with Rea finishing in third. His teammate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) did not see the finish after he hit the back of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s machine.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) entered his last day at Yamaha before he moves to BMW next season. Razgatlioglu finished the race in fourth after struggling in the restart of the race.

His teammate, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) will stay with the team next season. Locatelli rounded out the top five after a strong result for the Italian rider, who will race in Italy twice next season.

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) continued to show how strong Yamaha’s can be at Jerez by finishing in sixth. Gardner was in a group of riders and battled with Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven). Oetll came home in seventh with Andrea Iannone joining the Team GoEleven squad next year.

Michael van der Mark ROKiT (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ended the Superpole Race in eighth position. Van der Mark was the only factory BMW finisher as Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) suffered from a technical issue.

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was ninth and the final rider whose position for the final race of the season will be decided by the Superpole race.

There were mixed emotions in the Motocorsa camp with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) crashing out. Bassani was hit from the rear and then made contact with Gerloff, forcing both riders to DNF. However, Bassani was still able to wrap up and become the best independent rider this season.

Image credit: worldsbk.com