WorldSBK Indonesia Results, Race 2 - Bautista back to winning ways, Rea out

WorldSBK arrives in Indonesia this weekend for the second round of the 2023 season. Alvaro Bautista led the championship coming into the second round, having won all three races in Australia last weekend, but his winning start to the season was ended in the Indonesian Superpole Race, when he crashed after being passed by Jonathan Rea, allowing Toprak Razgatlioglu to take his first race win of the season. Check back here throughout the weekend for WorldSBK Indonesia results from the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit.

Overview

Race 2 - Bautista returns to the top step as Rinaldi blows a podium and Rea crashes out

Superpole Race - Razgatlioglu wins as Bautista dominance ends with a crash

Race 1 - Bautista continues 2023 domination with Race 1 win in Indonesia

Superpole - Razgatlioglu takes second pole of 2023, Rea penalised for Bassani, Oettl incident 

Free Practice - Rinaldi and Ducati dominate Friday in Mandalika

Race 2

The second long race of the weekend in Indonesia was seemingly predicatable going in. Alvaro Bautista did not start from the front positions after the result of the Superpole Race, but his pace advantage and tyre wearadvantage in Race 1 on Saturday was surely going to be too much for his rivals to overcome.

As is intended, the Superpole Race in Indonesia had direct implications for WorldSBK Race 2. Toprak Razgatlioglu started from pole position for the third time this weekend, while Alvaro Bautista had to start 10th after crashing out on Sunday morning; and Dominique Aegerter started 12th, after being demoted one position on the grid for an incident with Danilo Petrucci in the Superpole Race.

From pole position, Razgatlioglu made the holeshot ahead of Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea, while Bautista ended the first lap in eighth.

On lap four, Rea began to struggle with front grip as Michael Rinaldi hit the front. The #65 lost a position to Alex Lowes, and then on lap five he ran wide in turn one, putting him under pressure from Razgatlioglu. 

Just as Rinaldi had extended his lead to over two seconds, and begun the seventh lap, the red flag was thrown. On lap six, Michael van der Mark was pushed wide in turn 10 by Danilo Petrucci, and lost out also to Iker Lecuona. At the next corner, van der Mark high-sided, and left Philipp Oettl with no possibility to avoid the stricken BMW. There was not time to remove the bikes from the track before the leaders came back around, hence the red flag.

The stoppage changed the race. Bautista and Rinaldi been the only two riders to use the SCX tyre at the rear, everyone else had gone for the harder SC0. The shorter distance after the restart meant tyre wear was less of a concern, meaning more riders could choose the SCX (providing they had the allocation), and - perhaps more importantly on this particular weekend - the front tyre wear was less of a concern, too, which was of particular encouragement to Kawasaki. However, while this seemed to play into the hands of everyone but Ducati, Alvaro Bautista would start the restarted race from the second row, rather than the fourth, which brought him much more into contention early on - but, he had to use the SC0, because he did not have the allocation left.

The restart was over 14 laps, and Rinaldi made the holeshot from pole position ahead of Razgatlioglu, while Bautista was up to third from fourth.

By the end of lap three, Rinaldi began to impose his pace, and extended the lead out to over one second. Bautista, sensing the danger, began to pressure Razgatlioglu, who seemed to be losing entry grip at the rear, and lost second place to Bautista at the end of lap four.

Surprisingly, Bautista's advantage over his teammate, Rinaldi, was not especially significant to begin with, and it was not until the race entered the final five laps that Bautista go this deficit to Rinaldi under one second. 

Bautista was right with Rinaldi by lap 12. The Italian was struggling with front grip, but Bautista was being patient, knowing his pace was superior, and that making a mess with a teammate who is relatively non-hostile could create more problems than it was worth. 

On the penultimate lap, Bautista made his move at turn 10, and immediately pulled away, leading onto the final lap, by the end of which Bautista's lead was over one second as he took his fifth win of the season.

It seemed as though a Ducati 1-2 was a certainy, but he ran off the track in turn 10 on the final lap, and gfave second place to Razgatlioglu, third to Honda's Xavi Vierge, who took his maiden WorldSBK podium.

Rinaldi came home in fourth, ahead of Andrea Locatelli, Danilo Petrucci, Remy Gardner, Axel Bassani, Iker Lecuona, and Scott Redding, who completed the top 10.

Other championship implications involved Jonathan Rea, who crashed out a turn seven, bizarrely losing the front in a corner which seems to be more rear-biased. Perhaps that shows the extent of Kawasaki's front tyre troubles, especially in warmer conditions.

Full WorldSBK Indonesia results from the second full-length race in Mandalika are below.

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Mandalika, Indonesia | Race 2 Results

Superpole Race

With the same grid as Race 1, and the relatively large gaps at the front that came in that race, the Superpole Race in Indonesia was in some ways possible to predict, but the shorter distance always throws up new possibilities. After a crash for Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu took his first race win of the season.

The first important news of the Superpole Race was that both Eric Granado and Remy Gardner would be starting it, having both missed Race 1 and Superpole on Saturday due to gastroenteritis. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu once again made the holeshot off the start, ahead of Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Locatelli. At turn two, an incident with Danilo Petucci, Alex Lowes, and Loris Baz knocked the latter two out of the race on the spot, and sent Petrucci to the back of the pack.

At turn two on the second lap, Jonathan Rea crashed. Marshals were still in the run-off area retrieving the Kawasaki ZX-10RR of Alex Lowes, which had had the front end ripped off it in the opening lap incident. As soon as Rea stopped sliding, he told the marshals - with hand gestures that left no room for ambiguity - that there was oil on the track, and before the leaders reached turn four the race was red flagged. How, exactly, it was not possible to tell from the motorcycles which ended on the outside of turn two that there was oil on the track, and it was instead necessary to wait for another rider to crash on the oil left behind by one of the bikes (presumably the heavily-damaged Kawasaki of Lowes) before the red flag was thrown, is not particularly obvious.

On the restart, Bautista made the holeshot, but Razgatlioglu reclaimed the lead on the run to turn two as the Ducati rider ran wide. There was also a good start for Jonathan Rea, who was up to third before the end of the first lap.

By the middle of the race, it was looking like the early portion of 2022, with Razgatlioglu, Bautista, and Rea separated from the rest. However, it did not last, as a move from Jonathan Rea in turns 11 and 12 pushed both himself and Bautista wide, onto the dirty part of the track. As they both went back to the throttle on the exit of the left-handed turn 12, they almost simultaneously lost the rear of the bike, but only Bautista crashed, while Rea dropped from second place to fourth, behind Andrea Locatelli and Alex Lowes, who had previously made more contact with Loris Baz (the Frenchman's leg to be specific), which had clearly caused Baz significant pain in his right leg.

The incident between Rea and Bautista was an indication of the state of the track in Indonesia, which is incredibly dirty off the racing line, which makes it treacherous when trying to overtake. Simply, the track is not used enough, but this was something that was known already last year, and is also not a problem which is unique to the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit.

Razgatlioglu was relatively comfortable on his way to his first win of the season, although for him the points gain over Bautista was a slightly frustrating 12 points, as a result of the Superpole Race points system.

Behind Razgatlioglu, Andrea Locatelli confirmed a Yamaha 1-2, while Alex Lowes took third place, ahead of Jonathan Rea in fourth. The performance of both Kawasaki riders was encouraging, after they had struggled in Indonesia on Friday and Saturday. 

Axel Bassani completed the top five, while Xavi Vierge was the top Honda in sixth; Michael Rinaldi had a disappointing race in seventh, ahead of Michael van der Mark, Scott Redding, and Dominique Aegerter who completed the top 10.

Full WorldSBK Indonesia results from the Superpole Race in Mandalika are below.

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Mandalika, Indonesia | Superpole Race Results

Race 1

Race One in Indonesia had an air of inevitability about it from the start, and in the the end it was Alvaro Bautista who took yet another dominant win, his fourth from the season's first four races.

Although Toprak Razgatlioglu started from pole position, the expectation was that Alvaro Bautista would take the early lead, starting from third place. It did not go that way, though, as a strong launch for Razgatlioglu saw him take the holeshot and lead the first lap.

Behind, there was drama for Ducati, as Michael Rinaldi, who started fourth after topping free practice on Friday, misjudged turn one, went down, and nearly took out both Bautista and Axel Bassani. In reality, only Rinaldi went down, but it was a disaster for the Italian in any case.

It was not until the end of lap four that Bautista got to the front, in the same place as he was so strong last year: on the exit of the right-hander before the final complex. On the next lap, Bassani passed Razgatlioglu, too, although it was only a lap later that the Turkish rider was back up to second.

A couple of fastest-overall laps from Bautista after he took the lead saw him pull clear of the pack behind. He had chosen the SCX tyre, compared to most of the rest of the field who had taken the harder SC0 compound from Pirelli's range. Bautista's riding style undoubtedly plays its part, but it is also true that, if you are much faster in a straight line as the Ducati is compared to its competition, the tyres need to be stressed less in order to achieve a given lap time. What is certain is that, as the others' harder-compound tyres began to suffer, Bautista's pace with the softer compound continued to get faster.

Behind the leaders, a race of contrast was developing for the Kawasaki factory riders. Jonathan Rea was beginning to struggle with his front tyre after seven laps, while, as the race entered its second half, Alex Lowes began to pick up the pace and challenge Axel Bassani.

Although, into the final stages that charge for Lowes was over, as Danilo Petrucci, having already passed Rea, made his way up to fifth place past Lowes. Even with Rinaldi in the turn one gravel trap, Ducati had three bikes in the top five.

Bautista's five-second win was simply a further confirmation of the reality that began to become clear in Australia, of an increased advantage for the reigning World Champion over the rest of the field compared to last season.

Razgatlioglu's second place, therefore, was about as much as he could get from the race. As a result, it was a race of depression, more or less, for Razgatlioglu and everyone else left in the wake of the #1 Ducati.

After securing Yamaha's first Superpole 1-2 in over a decade on Saturday morning, the afternoon saw a second podium finish in two races for Andrea Locatelli in third place, confirming his own step forward over the winter.

Axel Bassani had a relatively lonely end to the race, too slow for the Yamahas ahead, too fast for those behind, who were headed by a similarly lonely (by the end) Danilo Petrucci, who secured his best finish in his fledgling WorldSBK career of fifth place. 

Michael van der Mark made a - very - late charge to come though to sixth place, on merit. In stark contrast was the Dutchman's BMW teammate, Scott Redding, who angrily retired just before the #60's race caught fire. 

Xavi Vierge was another late-race charger to finish seventh, ahead of Dominique Aegerter in eighth, while the two factory Kawasaki riders completed the top 10, with Jonathan Rea in ninth ahead of Alex Lowes in 10th.

Full WorldSBK Indonesia results from race one in Mandalika are below.

Superpole

Michael Rinaldi headed into Superpole in Indonesia as the fastest rider, having topped the first day in Indonesia on Friday. Perhaps the bigger news heading into Superpole, though, was that Remy Gardner would not be riding in either Superpole or Race 1 on Saturday in Indonesia, not through any particular fault of his own but due to the arrival of an acute gastroenteritis.

Alvaro Bautista topped the times at the end of the first runs, but the second tyre brought the Yamahas of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Andrea Locatelli into the top two positions, with the #54 ahead of the #55.

Bautista could not respond on his second tyre, meaning Razgatlioglu had his second pole of the season, although, for Bautista, getting caught up behind Garrett Gerloff perhaps did not help. The Spaniard was able to hang onto a front row start with third place, though, which should put him in the frame for the holeshot in both the first race and Superpole Race.

Jonathan Rea was set to start fourth, alongside Michael Rinaldi and Axel Bassani, but had his fastest lap cancelled and he dropped to fifth behind Rinaldi. Then, for an incident in Superpole, where Rea impeded Bassani and Philipp Oettl, saw the Northern Irishman penalised and dropped to eighth place, meaning Bassani moved to fifth sixth, Rinaldi starts fourth, Loris Baz - top BMW rider - moves up from seventh to sixth, and Scott Redding moves up to the front of the third row in seventh, while Rea will start eighth, ahead of Danilo Petrucci.

Alex Lowes completes the top 10 on the grid for the first two races of the weekend, and is joined on the fourth row by Iker Lecuona and Michael van der Mark.

Full WorldSBK Indonesia results from Mandalika are below.

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Mandalika, Indonesia | Combined Free Practice Results

Free Practice

The second race weekend of the 2023 WorldSBK season has gotten underway in Mandalika, for the Indonesian Round of the championship. Michael Rinaldi has ended the first day on top. 

Surprisingly for a day in Mandalika, both sessions ran in dry conditions, but times remained a way off the lap record set by Toprak Razgatlioglu in Superpole last season of a 1:31.371. Rinaldi’s fastest time of the day, set in FP2 like those of the other riders, was a 1:32.468, which also lands him more than three tenths of a second behind Razgatlioglu’s race lap record from last year, set in the Superpole Race.

Of course, on a circuit like that in Mandalika, which does not get used very regularly, the track can be quite dirty when a series like WSBK or MotoGP turns up on its first day of a race weekend. If we look back to last year’s times, Alvaro Bautista topped Friday at a 1:33.626, over a second slower than Rinaldi’s best from today. So, despite being a way off the lap record pace, this weekend is so far considerably faster than last year’s race, which was only four months ago.

It was another ominous start from Ducati, despite crashes for both of its factory riders, as Alvaro Bautista was all of 0.029 seconds slower than his teammate in the combined Free Practice times in Mandalika. 

However, behind, there was the relatively close presence of Toprak Razgatlioglu, 0.128 seconds behind Bautista, and 0.157 seconds behind Rinaldi. The #54 took all three wins in Indonesia last year, so was expected to be more competitive this weekend than last.

Behind Razgatlioglu, however, there was more than 0.5 seconds to Jonathan Rea, who, in fourth place, was 0.735 seconds behind Rinaldi.

Michael van der Mark was fifth, a further 0.010 seconds behind Rea, while Remy Gardner and Alex Lowes were sixth and seventh, respectively, and the final two riders within one second of Rinaldi’s benchmark. For Gardner, after the relative disappointment of his home race last week, it was a strong opening at the second round to complete the top six.

Andrea Locatelli’s speed in Phillip Island only really became clear in the second full-length race of the weekend, but it does not seem to have transferred here to Mandalika as yet. The Italian was eighth-fastest in combined Free Practice, 1.077 seconds behind Rinaldi and 0.920 seconds behind his teammate, Razgatlioglu.

Axel Bassani and Scott Redding completed the top 10, which was covered by 1.277 seconds in the end.

Full WorldSBK Indonesia results from the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit can be found below.

2023 WorldSBK Championship | Mandalika, Indonesia | Combined Free Practice Results

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