WorldSBK: Three out of three for Alvaro Bautista

Alvaro Bautista has won the final WorldSBK race of the weekend after an incredible race.

Alvaro Bautista led the way into turn one in race two, after a quick light change to start the race. Behind the reigning World Champion would be his teammate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi who looked for a way past in the final WorldSBK race of the weekend.

Jonathan Rea was pushed wide at Miller hairpin in the opening lap, forcing the Kawasaki rider to have a lot of work to do. Rea would pile on the pressure early in the race, managing to make it to fifth place.

Toprak Razgatlioglu had a tough start to his race, dropping down to sixth position, behind his teammate. He would later get involved in a five-bike battle for fourth place.

Remy Gardner was forced to take a long lap penalty in the second race due to Gardner crashing and taking out his teammate. He would drop down to 14^th position after the long lap penalty.

Tough weekend for Sykes and BMW

Tom Sykes’ bad weekend got worse, with the returning WorldSBK pitting for the third race in a row. He would later return to the circuit but would crash out a few laps later, retiring for the race.

Scott Redding spent the race battling for the final point-scoring position, in 15^th position on his BMW. The British rider was ahead of both Bonovo Action BMW bikes, with Baz and Gerloff behind.

Dominique Aegerter had great pace in the dry, qualifying in third position in qualifying. The Swiss rider would get involved in an incredible battle for tenth position, with Petrucci leading the pack.

Lowes would lead the battle for fourth position, with nothing separating the pack of six riders. Rea was having major issues with his rear tyre grip, losing edge grip early on after his rear tyre began to overheat. 

Bautista still led at the front, in a dominant fashion, he would lead ahead of his teammate Rinaldi. The reigning WorldSBK Champion led by almost three seconds, with 10 laps to go in the race.

Bassani shows his pace

Bassani hit the front in the battle for fourth position after a very aggressive ride, showing his pace. The group would continue to bunch up with Rea continuing to struggle with his rear tyre.

Both Oettl and Lecuona would find a way past the six-time WorldSBK Champion, with a hand full of laps to go. Oettl would quickly catch the back of Bassani but would struggle to find a way past.

Alex Lowes tucked the front at Miller Corner, taking out Toprak Razgatlioglu with him Razgatlioglu’s race was over. He would zero World Championship points in the final race of the weekend.

Remy Gardner managed to recover to 11^th place in the closing laps, behind his GYRT teammate. 

Three out of three

Alvaro Bautista took his third race win of the weekend, taking the treble, after a win in both Race One and the Superpole race. Rinaldi would finish a further 6.191 seconds behind, taking a second Ducati one, two of the weekends.

Andrea Locatelli finished as the top non-Ducati, with great late-race pace on his Pata Yamaha. Locatelli will leave the first round of the WorldSBK Championship in second place in the standings.

Bassani managed to hold off Oettl on the final lap, making it four Ducatis in the top five finish positions. Rea, however, would not be able to hold off the rookie, Dominique Aegerter who finished in seventh.

Petrucci ended the race in ninth place after a consistent ride on the Barni Spark Racing Ducati.

Michael van der Mark ended the race as the top BMW, ahead of his teammate, Scott Redding. The four BMW riders would battle in their own group throughout the race in a tense battle.

After a dramatic first round of the Championship, the teams and riders are ready to do it all again in Indonesia. The second round of the WorldSBK Championship will take place on the 3rd/4th/5^th of March.

Image credit: WorldSBK.com