FIRST LOOK: Petrucci, Gardner make first appearance of 2023, Bautista wears #1

Making their first WorldSBK appearances of 2023 were Danilo Petrucci, Remy Gardner, Dominique Aegerter, Lorenzo Baldassarri, with the former finishing an impressive fourth on day-one.

Putting himself amongst some very impressive riders, Petrucci was only beaten by Toprak Razgatlioglu, world champion Alvaro Bautista and Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

• Rinaldi: Dovizioso like ‘an older brother’ but confirms he won’t become coach 
• Bautista: "Last season I was a more complete rider, worked like never before"

Gardner was the second quickest rookie as he finished just outside the top ten in 11th, while team-mate Aegerter was a further three places back in 14th.

Baldassarri was 16th aboard the GMT94 Yamaha bike, which is also a debut for the team in the Superbike class. 

Despite a turn one crash, Bautista was fast after splitting time between his 2022 and brand new 2023 bikes.

As we saw last season, Razgatlioglu and Bautista could barely be separated as the Yamaha rider pipped the Spaniard by just under a tenth. 

After electing to run the #1 for his title defence, Bautista was seen using his new number for the first time.

Another former champion was also in action as Tom Sykes made his return with Puccetti Kawasaki.