While most riders in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship started their summer break as soon as the Acerbis Czech Round concluded, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) travelled from the Czech Republic to Italy for a second test on the Ducati Desmosedici GP. The test took place at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” with the Ducati test team as the WorldSBK #1 joined Michele Pirro for the test.

Bautista first jumped on the Desmosedici GP in June at Misano which was a reward for winning the WorldSBK title in 2022. Key figures at Ducati were left impressed by Bautista’s performance on the MotoGP™ machine despite not riding one for five years, with his last MotoGP™ race taking place in 2018. There have been discussions about a potential wildcard this year for the reigning WorldSBK Champion although nothing has been confirmed by either the team, manufacturer, or rider.

Reflecting on his latest test, Bautista said: “I’m really happy to have had another test with the MotoGP™ bike. After the first test I did, the feeling was really good, and I felt comfortable on the bike. I wanted to repeat another test. After this two-day test, I’m very happy because we continued with the same progression from the first test. I’m getting a better feeling with the bike and a better reference. We improved our feeling on the bike. We started to work more on the setup for myself and I can say that it has been two really positive days of testing, getting better feedback day by day.”

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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship will be back at the iconic Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the 12^th and final round of the 2023 season, on October 27th-29th. The Prometeon Spanish Round will replace the previously scheduled curtain-closer in Argentina.

The presence of Spain in WorldSBK began at Jerez in 1990 with the opening round of that season – the Championship returned to the Andalusian venue on several occasions – in the mid-2010s and more recently from 2019 to 2021. The Spanish venue has hosted 21 WorldSBK races in its history, with the latest held in September 2021.

With this latest update, the WorldSBK and WorldSSP seasons will conclude their respective campaigns at Jerez at the end of October. The WorldSSP300 season will finish as planned with the Pirelli Portuguese Round at Portimao from the 29^th September to 1^st October.

Arturo Bernal, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports Junta of Andalusia said: “Our partnership with the FIM Superbike World Championship is long and lasting. We are happy to be able to announce this final event, which will surely attract many racing fans to the Circuito de Jerez. There is no better place than Andalusia to host this race. Our region is a guarantee of success in organising major sporting events. I want to thank the strong collaboration between the Junta de Andalucía, the Jerez City Council, and Dorna to give even more relevance to a city that is already known throughout the world for its link to motorsports.”

María José García Pelayo, the Mayor of Jerez de la Frontera, commented: “It represents a great opportunity for Jerez and for the Circuit to see the return of WorldSBK. Jerez is once again positioning itself as a world motorcycling reference, as an emblematic circuit for riders, teams, and fans. A circuit that, with the return of WorldSBK, begins a new period of momentum. Hosting the round initially planned in Argentina at Jerez is a milestone, thanks to the collaboration of the City Council, the Junta de Andalusia, and Dorna. All three parties are aware that Jerez is an icon for world motorcycling, and that all the major motor racing events must go through the Circuito de Jerez.”

WorldSBK Executive Director, Gregorio Lavilla, added: “We are delighted to bring the WorldSBK championship back to its roots at the legendary Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the final round of the 2023 season. Jerez holds a special place in the history of our sport, and it is only fitting that we conclude this remarkable season at a venue with such rich heritage. We look forward to witnessing the fierce competition and celebrating the sport’s legacy with the passionate fans in Andalusia.”

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There were two new FIM Supersport 300 World Championship winners at the Autodrom Most as Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) and Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) claimed victory in difficult conditions. Both took their maiden victories in the Championship in rain-affected races, with Lehmann winning a flag-to-flag thriller by not pitting while Indonesia’s Mahendra mastered the rain conditions in Race 2 at the Acerbis Czech Round.

In Race 1, a lot of riders opted to pit as the rain started to fall but a handful stayed out including the #28 KTM rider. Lehmann kept his slick tyres on throughout the 14-lap race and was able to build a gap of around 3.5 seconds to claim his first win in his 27^th race. It was the fourth time he stood on the WorldSSP300 rostrum with the other three being third-place finishes. His win ensured KTM secured back-to-back wins for the first time after teammate Dirk Geiger’s Race 2 victory at Imola.

Reacting to his first win, Lehmann said: “It was incredibly hard because I just saw many riders crashing. There were a lot of slow riders and then people who changed to the wet tyres were very fast. I was like ‘why are you guys changing!?’. The tyres still had a lot of grip so I tried to stay out and hoped it didn’t rain anymore to finish on the podium. In the beginning, staying with slick tyres was not an obvious decision. I wanted to switch but then I missed the entry to the pits two times because I want too fast in the corner before. I said ‘now it’s too late anyway, I’ll stay out’ to see what I could take home.”

Race 2 featured similar weather conditions although there was no option to pit due to the amount of rain. A delayed start and a shortened eight-lap battle ensued with Mahendra coming out on top. In the early stages, Mahendra’s brother, Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing), cleared off into the distance but a technical issue ended his race early. That allowed his younger sibling to fight in the lead group and his win came with a last lap move as the Indonesian claimed victory by just 0.169s.

Discussing his victory, Mahendra commented: “I’m so happy. This is my first time winning in WorldSSP300. These conditions were totally wet, and I just thought about my pace. For the last laps, I wanted to save my pace and save my riding position. I knew that I could do more so I tried to push, and I knew I could overtake in the last two corners.”

While Lehmann and Mahendra stole the headlines at Most, it truly was a weekend of firsts. Six different riders stood on the podium across the two races, five of whom were there for the first time. In Race 1, Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) and Daniel Moegda (Kawasaki GP Project) were on the rostrum with Lehmann while rookie Jose Manuel Osuna Saez (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) and Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) took their first podiums.

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The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has been incredible throughout the opening eight rounds of the year and now that we head for the summer holidays – beach, city or mountains – we are all on a deserved bit of time off. However, the Acerbis Czech Round was brimmed with drama and as usual, that spills to the media debriefs. As the Czech’s say, this week’s hot headlines are pikantni this week!

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “I’m not 100% content in my situation; it’s important at this point of my life and career that I make a good decision”

Scoring more points than anyone else at Most, the topic of conversation for 36-year-old Rea was his future: “I’m thinking a lot right now; I am not 100% content in my situation to be honest. I have quite a lot of days of thinking ahead but I don’t feel in any rush and there’s no panic. It’s important at this point of my career and my life, that I make a good decision. One that’s right for me. I’ll take my time but before thinking about that, I want to have a beer and enjoy this weekend. I feel like we did a really good job as a team all together. We’ll start thinking about 2024 in a couple of weeks.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK): “I didn’t understand… we have many races, it was just bad luck”

A tyre failure in Race 2 from the lead of the race cost Toprak Razgatlioglu a chance to get the gap to Bautista in the title race down to 44 points; instead, it’s 74 into summer: “I’ve never seen this with the tyres. I didn’t understand; it felt like the chain had gone but then when the marshal picked the bike up, I saw the tyre and then after, it had very big damage. The chain was still on, it was just the tyre. Last year, I used SC0 tyre and did the same number of laps without problem and won the race. I used the SC1 as Pirelli were scared about the SC0. We used it but I am very surprised about the problem. My plan was, because Ducati are very strong on the straight, that in the last corner, I need to turn alone because if Alvaro is leading, then I can’t pass him into Turn 1. I always had him behind on the last sector; he was so strong there. He passed me at Turn 20 but I passed him again straight away at Turn 21. I had 0.6s on the board on my last lap and it looked like I was riding very well. We have many races; I’m angry but not for myself or the team, just the tyre. I can’t say anything bad about Pirelli because they brought the SC1 to avoid this, it was just bad luck. I’m not thinking about the Championship, I’m just focused on winning. Every weekend, I try my best.”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I thought ‘s**t, it’s impossible’… I was fighting with him on the limit!”

After a classic head-to-head fight, Championship leader Alvaro Bautista enjoyed his battle with Razgatlioglu, one of the best we’ve seen in 2023 so far: “I think on a normal lap, I’d have hit Toprak after his crash. I was very lucky. In the battle, I wasn’t thinking first or second. We were fighting and it seemed like the 100 times we entered the chicane, 100 times he got there first. He put the bike inside and we always missed the apex but it’s OK. When you are half in the middle of the track, it’s hard to close the door, but I tried it so he couldn’t pass me between Turns 1 and 2, but he came from the outside! Then I thought, ‘s**t! It’s impossible!’, but I had other options on the track but I didn’t see them as clearly as the first chicane. I didn’t think that ‘today I could win or I’ll just finish second’, I just enjoyed the battle. I was fighting with him on the limit.”

Bautista was also vocal on if the last two rounds have been a turning point: “The good or bad thing of racing is that anything can happen until the chequered flag. This isn’t a turning point; neither at Imola or on Saturday at Most. We did our best but the best result was 12^th with all the problems – and they were problems, not bad luck. I don’t believe in bad luck. I believed in myself; I thought I could be fast without the problems but on Sunday, I felt better with the bike, proving the work and the confidence is there. I haven’t seen, don’t see and won’t see this as a turning point, no; this is one race more and now, we have a break, we’ll try to work harder and be focused for the next one. We don’t have to be more worried after Imola or less worried after here.”

Speaking on Friday evening after the rumours of Jonathan Rea’s potential move to Yamaha for 2024 surfaced, Bautista joked when asked about it, saying it would be cool to have the top riders all switching teams for 2024’s season: “It would be nice to have Toprak at BMW, Jonathan at Yamaha, Scott at Kawasaki!”

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “Jonny was a gentleman, he’s a great World Champion; I owe him at least two beers!”

Talking about his battle with six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea, Danilo Petrucci fought hard for a best of P2: “Unfortunately this morning, for my riding style, I’m using a lot of corner entry speed and at Turn 1, I went wide. I was in the middle in P3; everyone braked at the same time but I put more load on the front and had Toprak and Axel ahead. I had to choose which rider to hit; I released the brake and went in the middle, and my day was f****d up. In the Superpole Race, I was far down and recovered a lot of places to start P8. In front of me in Race 2, I was P10 again, so I was like, ‘the day is over’. Lap by lap, I had chances to pass and I saw the front riders were still there and when I was alone, I could push a lot and be good in braking.

“I passed Jonny at Turn 1 on the final lap, but he answered me back at Turn 2. I had a good braking point for Turn 6 but he was still there and I thought that if I’m going to pass him, we’re both going to crash. I thought third was OK but in the penultimate corner, I saw him struggling so I tried to pass him, then he came back on the line and we did the last corner side by side. He was a gentleman, because with a bit more throttle, he’d hit me and put me wide, but he’s a great World Champion. I owe him at least two beers next time! P2 is my best result; we need to start better.”

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing): “I’m young fighting with old guys, sometimes I make mistakes; we’ll continue to fight for our dream”

No podium this weekend for Axel Bassani but plenty of laps led and once again, he demonstrated that he’s right on the precipice of a first win: “I made a big mistake; I braked late but went off. I’m sorry for the team. We were fast and I’m not happy because we had the possibility to fight with Alvaro. We took fourth, really close to second and third and I put everything on the final lap. It was a good recovery; it’s nice for the rest of the season but it’s been three rounds now where we’re really close to the podium or victory. We didn’t achieve the right results for whatever reason, so I need to stay alone now and think how we can change that. Maybe I need to stay more relaxed in the early laps. I’m young fighting with old guys! To fight with Jonny and Alvaro… sometimes I make mistakes. When you win, you achieve one of your goals and I hope to do it before the season. I think we can and we’ll try our best. We’ll continue to fight for our dream.”

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team): “We’ve made a good technical step”

Two top six finishes on Sunday for Remy Gardner, although similar issues with tyres got him at the end: “Position-wise, I don’t think there was much more but time-wise, maybe a little bit more. On the last lap, I had a similar issue to Toprak and we were lucky to finish. We’re asking so much of the tyre to make up the deficit on brakes; Toprak is much more than me but we’re frying the rear brake so much to get the bike to stop and we’re trying to use most of the track. The line of the Yamaha is to use all the track and pick it up using the corner speed, but you use so much of the tyre. I don’t think we have the power to pick it up on the tyre. From Donington Park, we’ve made a good technical step and here, we’ve seen an improvement and I’m feeling the limit of the tyres a bit better now.”

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Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team) secured a sensational maiden FIM Superport World Championship victory in Race 2 as he a slick tyre gamble in the rain paid off as it fell at the Autodrom Most. After starting from towards the back of the grid, the Brit surged up the order in the wet conditions as other riders opted to pit to give him his first WorldSSP victory and Honda’s first since Lusail in 2016.

The #95 took 22^nd in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole and finished Race 1 in 17^th, narrowly missing out on his first points since the Indonesian Round. However, it was Race 2 where Mackenzie made his mark as he took advantage of wet weather conditions, while remaining on slicks, to move up the field and claim victory in his rookie season. It was also Honda’s first since returning to the Championship, and their first in seven years when Kyle Smith won at Lusail at the end of the 2016 season.

Starting from 22^nd, Mackenzie remained out of points contention until Lap 8 with him running as high as 16^th in the early stages of the race. As the rain got heavier, and his rivals opted to pit, Mackenzie decided to stay out with the 2021 British Superbike champion making progress. He used his experience to avoid making mistakes and soon surged up the field and took the lead on Lap 11 of 19 where he remained despite late-race pressure from his rivals.

On Lap 13, he had Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 8.680s behind him and, with the track drying, Schroetter’s pace was quicker than the Honda star’s lap times. The gap was 7.764s a lap later before the German only took a tenth out of Mackenzie on Lap 15. The gap reduced from 7.362s to 5.765s at the end of Lap 16 and again to 3.317s on Lap 18, but the Brit was able to hold on by just two seconds at the end of the race for a sensational maiden victory.

Reacting to his first win, ‘Taz’ said: “It’s a special day for the whole team and everybody involved. I have to thank Midori and the Petronas MIE Honda team. It’s been a very difficult season, not just for me but my teammate and the whole team. We expect the package to be a little bit stronger than it is but, every weekend, we’re improving. This weekend, we made a small step which allowed us to fight a little bit more. It was a fun race. I didn’t expect to be near the front. When I saw the rain, I thought, ‘this is my chance to get some points’. Maybe not win but get some points! I got into the lead, I just had to focus and count down the laps. To win was amazing.”

The Stirling-born star also expanded on his choice to not change tyres. He added: “It wasn’t a difficult decision because my mechanic, Robert, told me on the grid, ‘if you come in, I’m not changing your tyres! You just need to go around and circulate and keep heat in your tyres’. I have to thank him. We give him a hard time in the garage but he’s always passionate. He told me to not come in and keep riding around like WorldSSP300 Race 1 where the winner kept circulating and heat in his tyres. I had this in my mind the whole time. When I pulled out two seconds, I just kept going and pretended there was no rain. The gap went to around eight seconds at one point. It was hard to believe, I didn’t know what was going on!”

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Source: WorldSBK.com