Phillip Island World Superbike Race (2): Bautista wins, Razgatlioglu taken out

Results from Race 2, round 1 of the 2023 World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, Australia.

26 Feb 2023

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Phillip Island 2023

Winner of the first two races and looking to make it an opening weekend hat-trick, World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista did just that after dominating from pole position.

Bautista made a great start as he led from teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi into turn one, which was the last he saw of his rivals.

A brilliant start was also made by Andrea Locatelli as the Pata Yamaha rider moved up from fifth to third.

Following an intense couple of laps battling behind the race leaders, Axel Bassani was the rider who settled into fourth ahead of Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

After taking out teammate Dominique Aegerter in the Superpole Race, Remy Gardner took his Long Lap penalty on lap three which put him back down to 14th position.

Looking to make their way back into podium contention, Rea and Razgatlioglu made quick moves on Bassani before Lowes did the same at turn four (lap six).

Toprak Razgatlioglu Superpole race, Australian WorldSBK, 27 February

As Razgatlioglu lined up a move on Rea heading into turn one, the 2021 world champion was instead passed by Lowes who got a brilliant run off the final corner.

After making contact with 14 laps to go, Iker Lecuona and Bassani hit one-another again a lap later at the same turn four.

The incident resulted in Philipp Oettl managing to overhaul the pair for eighth, while Lowes moved ahead of Rea for P5.

2023 World Superbike Phillip Island, Australia - Race (2) Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	22 Laps
2	Michael Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+6.191s
3	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	+9.099s
4	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+11.680s
5	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+12.020s
6	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+13.701s
7	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+14.316s
8	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+14.753s
9	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Ducati Team	+18.745s
10	Remy Gardner	AUS	GRT Yamaha	+21.331s
11	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+21.500s
12	Michael Van Der Mark	NED	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+29.790s
13	Scott Redding	GBR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+34.265s
14	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+34.444s
15	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+34.846s
16	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	+45.568s
17	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	MIE Honda Racing	+1'02.330s
18	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+1'02.589s
19	Eric Granado	BRA	MIE Honda Racing	+1'04.168s
20	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	DNF
21	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	DNF
22	Tom Sykes	GBR	Puccetti Kawasaki	DNF

Rea responded immediately before being put under pressure from Razgatlioglu, who got ahead of his rival before running wide at turn one.

As Bautista continued to lead by over three seconds from Rinaldi, the battle for fifth was heating up once again as Bassani took over from Rea at the head of the group.

Then came a big moment early in the championship as Razgatlioglu crashed out after Lowes went down directly in front of him.

Lowes lost the front of his Kawasaki at turn four, and with Razgatlioglu just metres behind him, the Yamaha rider was left with nowhere to go.

Rea was then pushed down to sixth as Oettl made his move at turn one, which put the Kawasaki star into the clutches of Lecuona.

Rea’s day then did get worse as Lecuona pounced on the Northern Irishman who was clearly struggling for performance.

Phillip Island World Superbike Race (2): Bautista wins, Razgatlioglu taken out

Our specialist in British and World Superbikes. Robert covers the Toprak Razgatlioglu vs Jonathan Rea rivalry in all its gory detail - just don’t ask him which bike racing championship is the most exciting…