With the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship in full swing and two rounds already in the history books, eyes are turning to the European rounds getting underway in April. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was at the presentation of the Emilia-Romagna Round at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” to discuss the title fight in 2023, his ambitions for the year ahead and how there’s a new version of himself on the bike and off the track this season.

Rinaldi’s 2023 season has been a mixed affair so far with two podiums from six races while he also has a retirement from an opening-lap crash at Mandalika and a 14^th place finish in the wet at Phillip Island. However, he has shown strong pace throughout both winter testing and during races as he finished second in the Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2 in Australia while he was leading until the final few laps in Race 2 at Mandalika.

Looking back on the first two rounds of the year, and his goals for 2023, Rinaldi said at the Emilia-Romagna Round presentation: “For sure, my goal this season is to try to fight for the title. The first two rounds at Phillip Island and Mandalika, I felt really strong but, in the end, I wasn’t able to take the points or results that I wanted to. At the moment, I am the lion that is chasing the gazelle! My teammate is already 67 points away, but I’m not focused on that. I am focused on getting the maximum result each weekend which is the most important thing. In the end, I felt really good on the bike and really strong so I think, this year, we can do a great job!”

Rinaldi has made changes to his preparations for 2023 including a new trainer, the same as teammate and reigning World Champion Alvaro Bautista, and he has opened up on how this has helped him throughout testing and in the first two rounds of the season. Rinaldi also discussed whether ‘2023 Rinaldi’ was different from ‘2022 Rinaldi’ after a difficult season last year where he did not win a race.

Rinaldi said: “This winter, I completely changed my way of training. Now I have different daily routines and different trainings. I feel really different as a rider. I feel really strong. I worked this winter with Chaz Davies, our rider coach, and we understood our weak points and we worked on them. It’s a new version. It’s small details that make a big difference.”

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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has completed two rounds in 2023 in Australia and Indonesia and now eyes are turning to Europe with the Dutch Round up next. However, before WorldSBK heads to Assen, the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” held an event to launch the 2023 Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) on hand to discuss his season so far, upcoming tests and the crowds at WorldSBK.

Petrucci returned to the WorldSBK paddock for 2023 after competing in STK1000 and made his debut in WorldSBK at the Australian Round in February and recorded his first top-five finish at the Indonesian Round when he finished fifth in Race 2. The two-time MotoGP™ race winner finished as the best Independent rider in that race but admitted at the Misano launch event that he is aiming higher as he looks for a podium finish in 2023.

Speaking about his first WorldSBK race on home soil at Misano and 2023 as a whole, Petrucci said: “It’s a really nice experience to come back to Misano in a World Championship. For me, it’ll be my first time with the WorldSBK machine. I’m so eager to race this round because it’s something really special. I don’t have any particular expectations for this round. It’s just the expectations I have for the whole season. I want to be on the podium. This is the target. At the moment, it’s difficult, but we are just at the beginning. At the moment, I am not really happy at all but satisfied. I will be happy when I’m on the podium.”

Petrucci also expanded on how special it was for him to see fans wearing his merchandise and waving flags in support of him in Australia as he made his WorldSBK debut at Phillip Island. The Italian also discussed his hopes for the crowd at Misano when WorldSBK visits Italy for the first time this season from the 2^nd-4^th June for the fifth round of the 2023 campaign.

Petrucci said: “I hope the crowd will be so huge. I already have the experience of a World Championship in the first two rounds in Australia and Indonesia. I missed the fans a lot because, after MotoGP™ in 2020 and 2021 with no public and at the Dakar there is no public. The races are so different. When I went to Australia for my first WorldSBK round, it was so incredible to see, again, all the fans with my t-shirt, my hat and a lot of flags. It was something really, really special. I’m so happy. I think this is the nicest thing, personally, to see a lot of people caring about you. It’s something really nice. I hope, for this round, a lot of people will come.”

With the gap in the calendar, teams and riders are taking advantage of this to take part in some testing to continue refining their packages. Barni Ducati and Petrucci are no different to this and they will have two days at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya where Petrucci will be able to try some new parts on his Panigale V4 R.

Explaining his testing programme, Petrucci said: “We have some tests before Assen, at the end of March in Barcelona. Two days of testing. I think we will have already the new fuel tank which is a little bit lower. At the moment, I’m still not 100% comfortable on the bike. My team and Ducati immediately provided something to let me be faster. At the moment, this is the main thing. We have other small issues, small things to try. I think this is the most important thing to let me be comfortable on the bike. I can be faster with this tank.”

Team Principal Marco Barnabo, also at the event, said: “The level in WorldSBK is very high and Danilo is in his first year, so it’s tough. We are working to adapt the bike to his needs, the bike has been developed for two little and light riders and it doesn’t help us. In Indonesia, he was more confident about tyres and so in the next test in Barcelona we want to make a step forward ahead of the Dutch Round. In Barcelona, we’ll work towards the rider’s position in order to have him lower on the bike and moving him back. Danilo says he wants a podium, he misses some confidence in pushing hard in the first laps while the other ones know the bike and the tyres. Assen is a track that he knows, and he expects more… I’d prefer leaving home with no expectations as in Indonesia: we didn’t have expectations and it went well.”

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Two rounds and six races have been completed in the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship so far and, while it is very early days in the season, a picture is beginning to emerge in the head-to-head fights at the five factory teams. There are close battles throughout the grid as riders to look to make their mark on their teammates and get the upper hand as they go in search of glory in 2023.

BAUTISTA ON TOP: a 5-1 advantage over Rinaldi at Ducati…

It’ll be no surprise to see that Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is leading the way at Ducati in races ahead of teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, having won five out of a possible six races so far in 2023. The only race where Rinaldi finished ahead was the Tissot Superpole Race at Mandalika, when Bautista crashed out, while the Spaniard also leads 2-0 in Superpole. Bautista’s 112 points after two rounds puts him on a mammoth 56 points per round average in the early stages of 2023, almost double that of his teammate (23.50); Bautista has picked up 70.44% of the team’s points so far this season.

A CLOSELY-FOUGHT BATTLE: not much separating Razgatlioglu and Locatelli so far

2021 Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) is on top at Yamaha, leading teammate Andrea Locatelli 5-1 so far this season, but other stats suggest this is a closer fight at this stage of 2023 than the overall numbers. The pair have picked up 75 and 70 points respectively, and their average positions of 2.20 for Razgatlioglu and 3.67 for Locatelli when finishing races are also evenly matched. The pair have eight podiums between them, with Razgatlioglu scoring five of these. The biggest discrepancy between the two comes in Superpole, where Razgatlioglu has had, on average, a 0.312s advantage over Locatelli; in Indonesia, the pair were separated by just 0.069s.

LEVEL PEGGING: 3-3 at Kawasaki after six races

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes are one of two pairings to be level in terms of races after two rounds with the score level at 3-3. Rea has the advantage in Superpole, leading 2-0, but the pair have been separated by less than two tenths over one lap on average in Rea’s favour. With one retirement for Rea and two for Lowes, it’s been a difficult start to the campaign, but the pair have often found themselves on track together and their average finishing positions reflect this: 6.00 for Rea and 7.50 for Lowes. Kawasaki have taken only two podiums this season with one each for Rea and Lowes; Lowes taking the only dry-weather podium so far in 2023.

EVENLY-MATCHED: level in races but Vierge has the podium finish…

Honda have enjoyed a strong start to their 2023 campaign with riders Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) and teammate Xavi Vierge. The pair are level 3-3 in races, with Lecuona ahead in Australia and Vierge in Indonesia, while they are also level in Superpole sessions at 1-1. Their average finishing positions are closely matched too with 9.50 for Lecuona and 7.67 for Vierge, while in Superpole they average 13.50 and 15.00 respectively on the grid. Vierge has taken Honda’s sole podium of the 2023 campaign, in Race 2 at Mandalika, while Team HRC have had at least one rider in the top ten in all six races so far this season.

NOTHING TO SEPARATE: van der Mark and Redding close across the board

It has been a difficult start for ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team pair Michael van der Mark and Scott Redding as they head into their second campaign as teammates, although this year is different as van der Mark comes into it fully fit. The Dutchman is ahead in Superpole 2-0 and races 4-2, although interestingly in terms of full-length races the pair are tied at 2-2. The pair have the closest Superpole gaps on the grid with their average gap only 0.032s; in Australia, the gap was 0.062s and in Indonesia it was 0.003s. In terms of average finishing position, it’s Redding who is ahead but not by much: he averages 11.00 when finishing races and van der Mark averages 11.60.

Superpole head-to-head

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati: Alvaro Bautista 2-0 Michael Ruben Rinaldi

Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu 2-0 Andrea Locatelli

Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea 2-0 Alex Lowes

Team HRC: Iker Lecuona 1-1 Xavi Vierge

ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: Michael van der Mark 2-0 Scott Redding

Race head-to-head

Aruba.it Racing – Ducati: Alvaro Bautista 5-1 Michael Ruben Rinaldi

Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK: Toprak Razgatlioglu 5-1 Andrea Locatelli

Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea 3-3 Alex Lowes

Team HRC: Iker Lecuona 3-3 Xavi Vierge

ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team: Michael van der Mark 4-2 Scott Redding

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is in gear and one of the circuits that will welcome us this year is underdoing upgrades to make for the best spectacle and safest racing. At the beginning of January, the next phase of the Autodrom Most track modifications started to further enhance the circuit, readying for a third round of action as the home of the Czech Round.

Having undergone a resurfacing for last year’s event, as well as an upgrade in facilities, the work for 2023 focuses on the modification of the kerbs, safety zones, the marking of braking points and the next phase of the modernisation of the control tower. The most significant change has already been made to Turn 21, the exit to the start and finish straight. The safety zone has undergone a complete overhaul and has expanded even further. Kerbs will be modified at Turns 4, 11 and 21. 

Autodrom Most’s Sports Director, Jindrich Hrnecek, explained the work to the kerbs: “They will be lengthened and the concrete area behind them will be partially widened to give the competitor the opportunity to react in the event of going off the track. The widening of all the kerbs is also to prevent off-track riding (track limits) whilst enhancing safety on the two exits and once directly in the corner. In the last corner, Turn 21, the gravel bed has been completely reconstructed, widened and drained to maximise its effect in that area.”

Another change that drivers will notice is the new marking of braking points. All markings will now be placed behind the barriers and above the track. This is the most modern and safest trend on circuits. The modifications to the starting tower are aimed at making the WorldSBK contingent and other racing series more comfortable. There will also be another part of the modernization of the existing facilities. During the winter months, it will be the turn of the race control room to add technology, soundproofing and expand its capacity. At the same time, the next floor of the control tower will be modernised to meet the new needs of Autodrom Most.

Most burst onto the WorldSBK calendar in 2021, becoming the new home of the world’s fastest production-derived Championship after the Championship’s previous visits to Brno. The first race at Most was an instant classic, with a showdown for the ages between Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and title rival, Ducati’s Scott Redding. It went until the final corner, with Razgatlioglu becoming the first ever winner at the circuit in WorldSBK. It also welcomed Jonathan Rea’s 200^th Kawasaki podium in the following race, whilst in Race 2 of the first year, Scott Redding’s memorable win saw him propose to his now-wife Jacey on the podium. 2022 brought more classics, with Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race bringing intense last lap battles. 

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is off and running and it’s been a mighty start to the season for Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing). The Italian has been a front-runner at the end of the 2022 season, challenging for his first World Superbike win, but whilst that hasn’t yet been achieved, the 23-year-old is enjoying his best start to a campaign to-date. Two rounds in, we look at Bassani’s form so far. 

The season started in Australia and at Phillip Island, a circuit that Bassani only visited for the first time back at the end of last year. He managed a seventh place in the flag-to-flag Race 1, the highlight of a tough weekend. After a difficult pre-season testing where he never really showed his true potential, it was hard for anyone to set a goal straight away for the happy-go-lucky Italian. However, with a Superpole result of 14^th, it was going to be a charge through the field for the #47. Of course, he delivered; Bassani – in wet conditions – was up inside the top six right from the start, eventually taking P5. A ninth in the Superpole Race improved his position whilst a fourth in Race 2 saw him leave Phillip Island ahead of 2021 Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in the standings. In Indonesia, a fourth, fifth and eighth across the three races saw Bassani in the battle at the front throughout and even leading Race 2.

Now fourth in the Championship and enjoying his best start to a season so far, Bassani has big goals for the year and wants a podium, reflecting on his Indonesian weekend: “I think we’re really near to a podium. We weren’t lucky in Race 2, so we need more luck for the future. I think at Assen or after, we’ll get the podium. We’re always P1 for Independent team and rider, and although today we didn’t win that battle in Race 2, we’ve had a good weekend. We also had a good weekend in Australia, so we’ve started the first two rounds of the season very well. I want to continue in this way at Assen and to get a podium; we need a podium to take more points in the Championship.”

In the Independent battle for 2023, Bassani holds a 15-point margin over fellow countryman and WorldSBK rookie, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team). Behind them, rookie Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) has shown strength and will be strong back on European circuits, whilst the likes of Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) and Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) have all been battling with Bassani across the opening two rounds of the season. In the overall Championship, the three factory riders that are ahead of Bassani are Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Toprak Razgatlioglu and his teammate, Andrea Locatelli. He’s only 19 points adrift of Locatelli, who has three podiums in 2023. Both riders are the only ones on the WorldSBK grid to score points in every race so far.

Continuing about his Championship position, Bassani hopes to strengthen and build on it in the coming rounds, whilst also detailing his plan for the break between Indonesia and the Netherlands: “It’s OK, but now, the aim is the top three! In the first week off, I’ll relax because after the test and the first two rounds back-to-back, it’s really difficult! After, we’ll continue to work – me at home but also the team at home on the bike. We’ll do the test in Barcelona and we’ll see what happens, but I feel good and I want to continue to push hard in all the practices.”

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It was looking like a much more positive weekend in Indonesia for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), with the Frenchman making gains on Saturday at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit and hoping for more on Sunday. Instead, a freak collision with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) saw Baz have his leg run over in the braking area for Turn 10, leaving him with a fractured fibula as well as a lot of damage to his ankle ligaments. We caught up with the Frenchman, who returned home, as he detailed his first thoughts on the incident, the long flight home, the chain reaction that caused it and the remarkable ambition to be back at the next round.

THE INJURY: instant thoughts, flying home and the surgery

“I felt straight away that there was something broken on the leg,” began Baz, at home after a first surgery. “Honestly, my first thought after the impact was checking if I still had the leg because the impact was so big, I thought my leg was off. It wasn’t nice but after that, the medical team did a great job. We saw the fracture of the fibula straight away, in the high part close to the knee. It was clear that there was some damage done to the ligaments of the ankle as they could see on the x-ray that there were more gaps in between the bones. I had a lot of pain, and the ankle was three times as big as normal. They told me that I needed surgery for the ankle for sure, but I decided to come back home and have the surgery there, as I have a great specialist. In 2016, I think I had 20 or 21 fractures in the foot after my Turn 1 crash at Mugello.

“I wanted to come back home, and it was a good choice; I saw him on Tuesday, as soon as I landed, and he did the surgery on Friday. He went inside the ankle with a camera to check all of the damage that could have been done. It’s not a fracture by the impact, it’s a fracture by the movement; when Alex hit me, the ankle went completely outside, so it’s like a strain but it went so much harder that the ligaments of the ankle are broken. I thought that maybe just one was broken, but it was all of them. The fibula will recover alone, but I’m not sure exactly what the surgeon did – he told me when I woke up, but I don’t remember! He told me there was more damage than first thought and that there’s work to do, but he’s happy with the job he did. I just need to be patient now.”

Talking about the journey home, Baz said it wasn’t nice but the pain wasn’t too bad: “Honestly, the journey wasn’t nice, but I am lucky that I was in a lot of pain for five minutes after the impact, but basically no more pain after that until I arrived home. If I moved, I could feel my fibula moving and cracking but if I didn’t move, then I didn’t have pain. After the surgery, I had a lot of pain because surgery on ligaments is kind of worse than any other bone. The worst thing is to do all the paperwork with the insurance, modifying flights, getting assistance but I am lucky that Eugene was there with me. Even though he’s used to that, it was his first time doing it in the other side. He called the insurance, my girlfriend and parents… it went pretty well. The journey was long because it was a 40-minute flight with an eight hour wait, then an eight-hour flight with another eight-hour wait and then an eight-hour flight again! As soon as I was in the airport, I had the assistance, but I just had to wait for eight hours… it was boring but OK! I was expecting to suffer much more on the way back.”

The Frenchman also recalled the importance of feet when racing and looked to countryman Jules Cluzel’s previous injury: “We really need our feet to ride a bike well, so you need to have a good surgery, you need to take care when you come back. I had some experience from Jules Cluzel, who had the bad injury on the left foot and then he was struggling a lot to ride after that.”

On the incident itself, Baz went through each detail, from a thin racing line to other factors, such as wind and more: “Everything can happen, but I think it was just a chain of events that caused the problem. The first is the condition of the track: you clean the track on one line as we’re all riding the same line, but when you need to overtake, you have to go on the dirtier part of the track, but you don’t want to be completely in the dirty part. So, you try and stay in the clean part as much as possible and you don’t have this margin. Also, for Alex, the wind brought him closer than usual and then if he’d gone more to the inside, then he’d have gone straight on or crashed. The level is also so high, so it is harder to make a move with a lot of margins. All those details together create a chain movement, and I was the unlucky one at the end of the chain.”

SEASON SO FAR: “We’ve made a step but not big enough, we’ll get there for sure”

“It’s been tough, but we’ve only had two rounds,” continued the 30-year-old. “I thought all winter that we need to go racing to see where we are. Phillip Island was really difficult; apart from Michael who was riding really well and had something more than us, no BMW was faster than the other one with three completely different setups. In Indonesia, honestly, I felt a bit better straight away and I felt a bit better on Saturday. We made a good step and then in Race 1, after a Superpole, I lost a lot of time at Turn 1 with Rinaldi’s incident, but I was able to come back closer to the top ten and with a lot of inputs, knowing where to improve. In Australia, we were really far off, and we didn’t know where to improve. On Sunday in Indonesia, both times when we had incidents, I was in the top six and it is somewhere I haven’t been since the first half of last year. 

“Everyone in BMW and in the team is working really hard and nobody gave up. You can see with Kawasaki, we’re not the only ones struggling, as Yamaha and Ducati are putting the level so high – especially Ducati. That’s good for the Championship as there’re faster bikes than last year and it’s so tight. It’s super easy to look stupid further down but you’re going faster than last year. The level is much denser. I feel the improvement and we’ve made a step, but we haven’t done a big enough step, but keep in mind that the winter was really short. I believe a lot in the project, and we’ll get there for sure.”

RECOVERY TIME: Assen likely, ligament healing crucial

Talking about recovery time, Baz has his sights on the next round, five weeks from now: “I don’t know exactly the time of recovery, but the target is to be back at Assen and as fit as I can. At the moment, I can’t do anything; I’m just sat on my sofa, with the leg up and with some ice. The goal is to be back at Assen as fit as possible, something that the surgeon also agreed on which is positive. For the first two weeks after the surgery, I can’t do anything as I need to have two weeks of being completely off, so that the job he did with the ligaments can start to work. Then, I’ll start the physio in ten days at the same place; the rehab centre is at the same place I have the surgery.

“I will miss the test but hopefully I can be back at Assen; I think it can be a good track for us, so we’ll see. I think that 95% I will be at Assen; I’m not sure which shape I will be, but it is five weeks from now – a lot and not a lot! I’ll have a bit less than three weeks when I start the rehab. I’ve had a lot of bone injuries and I know what to expect when you have a bone injury, but with ligaments, I don’t know as the most important thing is to get back the movement of the ankle. I have a good physio, so we’ll put in the work together.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is well underway with two rounds down and plenty of stories, records and intrigue already being discussed. In a season that’s bringing a topsy-turvy feel right from the off and with pre-season title contenders seemingly struggling, we debrief the opening two rounds and look at some key patterns and findings from Australia and Indonesia.

KAWASAKI STRUGGLE: a disaster in green to start 2023

Seven titles, over 100 wins, more than 300 podiums and a place firmly in the history books, Kawasaki have been the modern benchmark in World Superbike, but the start of 2023 has been a troubled one. Two podiums from six races, no wins in the opening six races for the first time since 2019 (when Jonathan Rea finished second in all opening six races) and no Kawasaki inside the top five in the Championship, it’s rather perplexing. The Japanese manufacturer brought an upgraded engine for this year, with it giving more power on the exit of corners. That step was visibly made at Phillip Island, with the Kawasakis able to stay in front of the Yamahas – even when they were with a slipstream. However, pace at the end of the race has been something Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes have struggled with, whilst they’ve also continued to be at a deficit in hot temperatures. It’ll be an important test at Aragon and Barcelona…

BAUTISTA VS TOPRAK: early form makes for interesting reading

With Jonathan Rea struggling, it’s been reigning World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who has been doing the lion’s share of the winning – five wins from the opening six, whilst 2022 title rival and 2021 World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) is the other winner. Whilst it was a slower start to the season for Toprak, he came back strong at Mandalika, although Bautista is still leading him in the Championship by 37 points. However, despite only winning one race, Razgatlioglu outscored Bautista in Indonesia: 52 points vs 50. Of course, we expect that Rea will come back into the fold and that others could be in with a shout, but could it be already that it’s a battle between Bautista and Razgatlioglu this year? And if so, who will triumph?

RISE OF THE TEAMMATES: pecking order rearranged, or the same when we return to Europe?

There have been some fantastic battles already in 2023 but one theme has been that the previously established ‘number ones’ within a team have been pushed hard in the opening part of the year. At Ducati, Bautista may have five wins from six but Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) step up in form has been clear for all to see. He really will be a force to be reckoned with when we get to circuits such as Barcelona and Misano. Then at Yamaha, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was second in the Championship after Australia and is third after Indonesia and just five points behind Razgatlioglu, whilst he’s also the only rider in the Championship to finish all races inside the top five. He’s had podiums at Assen in the last two years, is a win possible?

At Kawasaki, Alex Lowes has given Kawasaki their only dry podium of the year so far with third in the Superpole Race in Indonesia, whilst Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) bagged a first WorldSBK podium in Mandalika Race 2, outshining teammate Iker Lecuona across Mandalika and is just a point behind Rea in the standings. For BMW, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has had the measure of teammate Scott Redding so far in 2023, giving BMW their only top six of the season so far, although Redding is ahead on points. Will this continue as Assen awaits, where results in the past have often been turned on their head?

STRONG ROOKIES: Petrucci and Aegerter shine, Gardner in the mix

It’s been a fine start to the 2023 season for Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), who ended the Barni team’s four year wait for a return to the top five with fifth at Mandalika in Race 1. He’s eighth in the Championship standings, although he’s yet to score points in the Tissot Superpole Race. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) had a solid first round with a front row start, and podium potential, and his late race pace – whilst he was concerned about it before the season started – has been strong. Teammate Remy Gardner has had a best of seventh but a wet debut, taking his teammate out in Australia and food poisoning in Indonesia have all made it a tough opening two rounds. Elsewhere, Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) scored his first points at Mandalika last time out whilst Eric Granado (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) chases his first.

STRONG STARTS, KEEP AN EYE: Bassani and Oettl with good pace

After podiums in his first two seasons of action, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) is enjoying his best start to a WorldSBK season with fourth overall in the standings, despite not achieving a rostrum just yet. The charismatic Italian has been a stand-out front runner and even a race leader already, but a best of fourth so far means he’s just missed the podium. Perhaps more of a surprise at round one was Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven), with the German continuing his form from pre-season testing and shining for a career-first top five in Australia. Just three points came during the Mandalika weekend but next up is Assen, a circuit where he showed strong potential last year.

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The world is celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8^th and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is no exception to this. To mark this day and to celebrate some of the incredible women who work within the paddock, Midori Moriwaki, Team Principal at the PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team discussed her career path to leading a WorldSBK team and how she is aiming to pave the way for the next generation to come through.

Moriwaki’s current role is Team Principal of the only satellite Honda team on the 2023 WorldSBK grid, running with riders Hafizh Syahrin and Eric Granado while the team have recently expanded into WorldSSP with the PETRONAS MIE MS Racing HONDA Team with Tarran Mackeznie and Adam Norrodin. Prior to that, she had been involved in the MotoGP™ paddock as well as with the Moriwaki Junior Cup.

Explaining her career path, Moriwaki said: “I am the third generation in a motorsport family. First is Yoshimura and second is Moriwaki which is my parents. My grandfather is Pops Yoshimura. I am the third generation. My background is engineering. I have worked in Australia and America and after that I had 21 years of working in Moriwaki engineering which is my parents’ company. I managed the MotoGP™ teams for Moriwaki and the Moto2™ project and the junior cup. Also, developing new technologies together with our engineers and also running a racing team. I have lots of academy projects and educational projects for engineering worldwide, especially in Asia and some other countries.”

One thing Moriwaki emphasises is her desire to help the next generation of women come through into the paddock, with the Team Principal giving advice to women looking to break into the motorsport industry and make a career for themselves. Expanding on this, she said: “This is not only for young women, but for any person. As a human, living in this life and this world is not only motorsport but the general world is not easy. Many critical things happen. To live this difficult life, or change your life to become positive, find a vision and then yourself. Not somebody else who makes it. Trust yourself and if you’re having a hard time, don’t push yourself too hard. Stay calm, wait a moment and then keep going. Life is like time. One second, one hour, one day, one year, two years… the time never stops which means life never stops. Don’t forget your vision or what you want to achieve. If you trust yourself, time will come and find away.

“I never think I am proud of myself because I just do what I believe. What I try to do is make a foundation for the next generation, not for myself. I have been in motorsport for a very long time, this year is 28 years, myself and the whole family is 70 years of history. We have seen good times and bad times in motorsport. The next generation is always key, not today. I see it for the future. I’m always looking at what I can do for motorsport and what legacy I can leave.”

The number of women in motorsport continues to grow and in vastly different roles, from press officers to mechanics, engineers and senior positions such as team principals. Moriwaki discussed whether she felt this is something that would continue in motorsport and also whether it would become easier for women to get into motorsport in whatever role they would pursue.

She said: “I think the presence of women in motorsport will continue to grow. There are a lot of women who are already making a good career. Young people can follow them who have already walked through. Like I did last year with the Moto3™ women’s team wildcard, Maria Herrera rode, and the team manager was an Italian girl, Aurora Angelucci. I supported her how to think and what you need to prepare, coaching her how to be the team principal and also what she needs to be targeting. I wanted to give my hands-on experience to women who want to be in this support. I think it’ll be much easier.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

A four-year win drought ended for Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) in the FIM Supersport World Championship when he claimed victory in Race 2 during the Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. Caricasulo’s win did not come easy after he was involved in a last-lap fight in Indonesia as he took his first win since September 2019 when he at Portimao, while it was also his first win with Ducati machinery.

Caricasulo made a return to WorldSSP in 2021 although he moved around teams in that season as he searched for the best possible results. In 2022, he made the switch to Althea Racing as Ducati returned to the Championship and was competitive throughout the season, taking two pole positions and five podium finishes. He remained with the team for 2023 and the continuity paid off for both Caricasulo and Althea Racing with victory in Race 2 at Mandalika.

Italian rider Caricasulo was running in the podium places throughout the 18-lap race with Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), with Oncu leading the race from Lap 3 until Lap 13 when Manzi overtook him. It looked like Manzi would go on to take his first Yamaha win but Caricasulo got by Oncu on Lap 14 and closed the gap to Manzi over the final few laps. The race-winning overtake came on the final lap at Turn 10 as Caricasulo took his first win since 2019.

The win also meant Ducati equalled their best-ever WorldSSP season in terms of race victories with three this year, matching the total from 2000, with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) winning the first two races in Australia. Caricasulo’s win was his first in 68 races while he also took his 29^th podium, putting him level with 2017 Champion Lucas Mahias.

Reacting to his incredible victory, Caricasulo said: “I’m super happy because I think my team did a very good job with me and my bike. From Saturday, it was not easy to improve the bike because sometimes we can maybe be faster but also slower too. The bike was better on Sunday. My front tyre was better for the whole race. I was thinking only about riding and not managing the tyres. I’m really, really happy. It was really difficult because the temperature was super-hot. We had to push 100% for 18 laps so it was really, really difficult. In the end, it looked like I had a little bit more than Manzi in front of me. On the last lap, I tried, and it was okay and perfect for today.”

Caricasulo also discussed his battle with Manzi which went down to the final lap. Manzi had started from tenth on the grid but found his way to the front of the field before being overtaken by Caricasulo at Turn 10. Discussing the fight, Caricasulo said: “In the beginning of the race, I lost time in sector two in the fast corners. During the race, I learnt to be better in this sector. On the last lap, I gave my 100% in this sector to overtake Manzi there in the braking after. In the last two sectors, I felt stronger throughout the race. I overtook him and then I pushed during the last two sectors.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

A stunning 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has just seen chapter two of the season signed into history, with ten rounds remaining. The Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit has provided more history as it welcomed WorldSBK action for a third season. From major milestones to bad form and plenty more, this week’s stats round-up reveals all.

397/128 – Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) became the 128^th rider in WorldSBK to achieve a podium with third in Race 2. He gave Honda a 397^th in their WorldSBK history.

110 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) gave Yamaha their 110^th win during the Tissot Superpole Race.

87 –Razgatlioglu took his 87^th podium in World Superbike after Race 2, level with Aaron Slight in eighth in the overall rankings.

60 – Alvaro Bautista took his 60^th podium with Ducati, now with the same as Troy Corser.

51 – Continuing his strongest start to a WorldSBK campaign, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) has 51 points. He is top Independent and for the first time in his career, is inside the top four in the standings.

47 – Ducati won at Mandalika for the first time in Race 1, making it the 47^th circuit they’ve won at.

34 – Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) gave Kawasaki their first dry weather podium of the year, the 34^th in his career. He’s now one behind Ruben Xaus, Michel Fabrizio and Eugene Laverty.

33 – Razgatlioglu took his 33^rd win in the Superpole Race, levelling with Troy Corser in seventh overall. Next up is Tom Sykes in sixth place with 34.

25/10 – Taking pole at Mandalika, it was a 25^th front row of his career for Toprak Razgatlioglu, making it three consecutive poles at the Indonesian circuit. It was also the 2021 World Champion’s tenth pole position, now level with Carlos Checa and Pierfrancesco Chili.

13 – 13 years after the last occurrence, Yamaha achieved a 1-2 in Superpole. It was Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland back in 2010 at Kyalami.

11 – With Razgatlioglu winning ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli in the Superpole Race, it was the 11^th Yamaha 1-2 in WorldSBK, the first since Donington Park Race 2 2021 – Razgatlioglu and Garrett Gerloff.

5 – Five races without a podium for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), his worst streak with Kawasaki and his worst streak since Donington Park Race 1 to Portimao Race 1, 2014.

3 – The Italian riders lock-out the podium in WorldSSP for the third time in history: in Race 2, Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) was ahead of Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team).

1 – The first race win in WorldSSP for Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), the fourth-youngest winner in WorldSSP after Andy Verdoia, Manuel Gonzalez and Yoann Tiberio.

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Source: WorldSBK.com