Catalunya World Superbike Superpole Race Results: Bautista wins but Rea crashes

World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista has won again as rain caused choas during the final laps of the Catalunya Superpole Race

Following a couple of sluggish race starts on Saturday, Bautista had no such issues during the Superpole Race as he was unchallenged into turn one.

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• Razgatlioglu: “Forget about Alvaro”, beats Rea with final lap overtake

Michael Ruben Rinaldi also made another great start as he went from fourth to second, while Toprak Razgatlioglu came from eighth to fifth.

The Yamaha rider quickly got through on Lowes at turn three to make that P4, however, the Kawasaki rider responded just two corners later.

Not to be denied, Razgatlioglu got back ahead of Lowes at turn 11 before closing in on Rea.

Unlike Race 1 when it took the entire race for Razgatlioglu to overtake Rea, the 2021 world champion made his move as early as lap two. 

Using a softer front tyre compared to his rivals, Razgatlioglu had a clear pace advantage on every rider except Bautista. 

Razgatlioglu’s stunning charge continued on lap three as he overtook Rinaldi at turn 11. 

With Razgatlioglu up to second, Bautista put the hammer down in order to pull clear. The Ducati rider extended his lead to 1.8 seconds with less than half-race distance remaining. 

Seemingly with more pace than Razgatlioglu, Rinaldi began to challenge the Yamaha rider on lap eight as the pair exchanged second place on four occasions.

Then came huge drama as rain began to fall which led to Rea passing Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu on lap nine.

However, Razgatlioglu dived back to the inside of Rea heading into turn one on the final lap, before Rea lost the front-end of his Kawasaki under braking. 

There was no contact between the pair as Rea surprisingly crashed from a completely upright position. 

Bautista remained unchallenged as he took yet another win, while Locatelli completed a stunning final lap to claim third behind Razgatlioglu.

Catalunya World Superbike records

Lap record - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati 1:41.135s

2022 Race Winners

Race 1 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati

Superpole Race - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati 

Race 2 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati

2023 Race Winners

Race 1 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati 

The Superpole race got underway without Oliver Konig and Eric Granado as both riders were ruled out due to injury. 

Weekend schedule (UK time) 

Friday

Free Practice 1 - 09:30-10:15

Free Practice 2 - 14:00-14:45

Saturday 

Free Practice 3 - 08:00-08:30

Superpole - 10:10-10:25

Race 1 - 13:00

Sunday 

Warm-up - 08:00-08:15

Superpole Race -10:00

Race 2 - 13:00