Gordon Ritchie | February 25, 2023
WorldSSP Race Two
The appearance of two local geese on the live track surface brought about a premature and bizarre end to the proposed 18-lap WorldSSP Race Two at PI – shortening it to 13 laps and placing Nicolo Beluga (Aruba Racing Ducati) on the top step of the podium.
He and Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) had taken turns to lead, with the red and blue trio joined all race long by eventual third place rider in green, Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).
Happy days for Bulega as he does the double in Australia.
Those three broke away from the rest with relative ease and at the flag were covered by less than a second. The leaders were half a straight ahead of their nearest rival, Marcel Schrotter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).
Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) was fifth, rookie rider Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) sixth and fast old stager Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) seventh.
With Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) out after tangling with eventual tenth placed rider Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing), Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) was eighth and Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS) ninth – and also the only Triumph rider.
No wet track surface on Sunday, so no podium heroics for John McPhee (Vince64 Kawasaki). He was still a solid 12th on a bike that is not fully race ready. Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE MS Racing Honda Team) was 16th and last in Race Two, while Harry Truelove (Dynavolt Triumph) was an early faller.
In the championship, Bulega already leads Manzi by 20 points, after the Ducati rider won both PI races. Schrotter is third with 22 points, Spinelli fourth with 20, the same points total as McPhee in fifth place.
2023 Australian WorldSBK Results—WorldSSP Race Two
| 1 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
+ 0.382s |
| 3 |
Can Oncu |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.665s |
| 4 |
Marcel Schroetter |
(MV) |
+ 9.647s |
| 5 |
Glenn van Straalen |
(Yam) |
+ 11.080s |
WorldSBK Superpole Race
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi secured a safe 1-2 after some tough early laps for everyone except Bautista.
The 2022 champion led every lap of the race, and would go on to take a 2.462 second advantage over Rinaldi, who had been fourth at the end of lap one.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) would finish third, passing Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) on lap five, by which time Rinaldi was already in second place and out of reach.
Alvaro Bautista led home teammate Rinaldi for a Ducati one-two.
Lowes rode and fought determinedly to finish fourth and make up for his mystery first day highside and no-score.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) had lined Lowes up several times but was unable to make any attempoted pass stick, and he duly finsihed in fifth place.
Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati) has started his second WorldSBK season strongly and even managed to keep six times champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) behind him, with Philipp sixth and Rea an unlucky seventh after his early run-off at Turn 4 when tangling with front row qualifier Dominque Aegerter.
Both GRT Yamaha riders, Remy Gardner and Aegerter failed to finish after Gardner’s over-ambitious move on his new team-mate at Turn Four.
Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) was eighth, Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) ninth and Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) tenth.
Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 14th and Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 15th.
2023 Australian WorldSBK Results—Superpole Race
| 1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 2.462s |
| 3 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 3.060s |
| 4 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 3.833s |
| 5 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 3.893s |
WorldSBK Race One
The first race of the 2023 WorldSBK season started 15 minutes beyond its 16.00 planned schedule after the delays in the chaotic WorodSSP race. On a fully wet track Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) would eventually win, and convincingly so, from early leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team).
Bautista made his move on lap ten, as much to get out of the considerable spray kicked up from Rea’s recently re-homologated Kawasaki on such a wet track surface as any major tactical decision. Rea, with no quick shifter or throttle blipper after a few laps, had to use his peculiarly high mounted clutch lever through much of the race instead of just for the startline launch. There was also a lot of on/off throttle movement required while changing gears.
Alvaro Bautista kicked it off in style with the race one win.
Bautista had some ‘moments’ after passing Rea and allowed the chasing rider back into his slipstream at one stage, but the 2022 champion eased away to win by a clear 3.471 seconds.
Pole man Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) was third overall, just over six seconds back from Bautista.
The levelling-up effect of the wet conditions on the triumvirate of major WorldSBK forces never quite came to pass, with the big three from 2022 being the big three again in Race One of 2023.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was riding in a solid fourth place until he fell, having a mystery highside crash at the fast Turn Two, that he did not think was anything to do with anything he did.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) was fourth, but 16 seconds back, with the top independent rider being Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) in fifth place. Top Honda rider was Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) in sixth, with his team-mate Xavi Vierge in seventh.
That seventh place was taken by exciting 2023 draftee Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) over the line, but after he and Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) clashed exiting MG hairpin on the last lap, and the Spaniard nearly fell, race Direction awarded seventh to Vierge. Petrucci had no complaints and accepted his punishment.
In ninth place, Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the best BMW rider on the new M1000RR (complete with( its vast front aero wing, after Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) fell on lap two.
Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) was tenth on his first ride for BMW.
Two more WorldSBK races remain on Sunday 26 February – the ten lap Tissot Superpole sprint race and a second full 22-lap finale.
2023 Australian WorldSBK Results—WorldSBK Race One
| 1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 3.471s |
| 3 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 6.168s |
| 4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 16.789s |
| 5 |
Axel Bassani |
(Duc) |
+ 20.918s |
WorldSSP Race One
Nicolo Beluga (Aruba Racing Ducati) won his and Ducati’s first Next Generation WorldSSP race, in changeable wet conditions, after an incredibly disrupted start to the first race of the new season. Nicolas Spinelli (VFT Racing Yamaha) came close to winning as he closed in hard on the final few laps, taking second and ultimately demoting strong podium rider John McPhee (Vince64 Kawasaki) from his potential runner-up spot.
Win number one for Nicolo Bulega in WorldSSP.
Correct wet-weather tire choices, and then rider skill, determined all in a messy but entertaining start to 2023.
The appearance of rain just as the opening WorldSSP race was about to start saw some immediate drama, with several changes of lead and podium positions – until a red flag stopped the race when Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) and Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) crashed. Montella suffered a left collarbone fracture, with Huertas taken to hospital with lumbar contusions.
The race restart saw the riders take off the line from the positions they held at the end of the aborted first start, with Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) and McPhee the front row starters.
The attempted restart was delayed again as an even heavier fall of rain arrived just as the riders made their final formation lap of the proposed 12-lap race, soon dropped to 11 laps, and then finally (after a five minute delay) ten laps.
Öncü fell on the final sighting lap and was ruled out of his pole position start and the race itself.
Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS) was a determined fourth, albeit 11.6 seconds down, as fortunes waxed and waned through the race, but fifth place for Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE MS Racing Honda Team) was possibly even more of a miracle than his coutryman McPhee’s podium, given how troubled his practice and qualifying session were on his nearly stock bike.
Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), the winner of Superpole, was sixth.
Marcel Schrotter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was seventh, Anupab Sarmoon (Yamaha Thailand) eighth Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) ninth and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) 10th.
2023 Australian WorldSBK Results—WorldSSP Race One
| 1 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Nicholas Spinelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.942s |
| 3 |
John McPhee |
(Kaw) |
+ 2.965s |
| 4 |
Niki Tuuli |
(Tri) |
+ 11.624s |
| 5 |
Tarran Mackenzie |
(Hon) |
+ 15.838s |
Friday WorldSBK
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made a strong early start to his WorldSBK title defense with not only the fastest lap time on the first day of Free Practice at Phillip Island, but a series of fast laps that may prove ominous for the hopes of any of his main rivals.
He ended up 0.446 seconds ahead of second best rider on the day, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team). Both he and third fastest rider, Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda), set their best laps in the opening session.
Bautista’s pace was sublime on Friday at Phillip Island.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was fast in the afternoon session and fourth overall, despite losing some time when his bike conked out before he could exit pitlane with ten minutes to go.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) relied on his morning session to go fifth, and was considerably slower in the afternoon session.
It was a similar story for sixth placed Michael van der Mark (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who just headed off second session quick qualifier, Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati). Öttl was the top independent rider on the opening day of the new season.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was eighth, new 2023 addition Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) ninth and 2021 champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) tenth.
Local hero Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) placed 11th of the 22 riders on show.
2023 Australian WorldSBK Results—Friday
| 1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
1:30.623s |
| 2 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 0.446s |
| 3 |
Iker Lecuona |
(Hon) |
+ 0.506s |
| 4 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 0.534s |
| 5 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.681s |
Friday WorldSSP
Nicolo Beluga (Aruba Racing Ducati) scored the early psychological advantage in the WorldSSP class with top spot after two practice sessions held in hot conditions at Phillip Island.
Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was second but over half a second behind. The top three featured three diffferent machines, with Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) third overall, thanks to a fast time in FP1. The same FP1 session saw Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) set fourth best time overall. Nicolas Spinelli (VFT Racing Yamaha) was fifth and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) sixth.
Bulega was doing his best Bautista impression by dominating WorldSSP.
Marcel Schrotter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) placed seventh, and experienced WorldSSP runner Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) eighth. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) and local rider Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing) completed the top ten on day one.
Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph Street Triple RS) was the top Honda on show, in 12th place.
John McPhee (Vince64 Kawasaki) was 19th of the 22 riders and Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE MS Racing Honda Team) had a crash on his out lap and only just managed to sqeeze in a lap time to end up 22nd.
Slightly cooler conditions are expected for the second day, when Superpole qualifying and then WorldSSP Race One will take place at the classic Aussie circuit.
2023 Australian WorldSSP Results—Friday
| 1 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
1:32.852s |
| 2 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
+ 0.510s |
| 3 |
Adrian Huertas |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.889 |
| 4 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Duc) |
+ 0.903s |
| 5 |
Nicholas Spinelli |
(Yam) |
+1.024s |
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