Gordon Ritchie | July 2, 2023
Sunday WorldSBK Race Two
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) won a stopped and restarted final 22-lap WorldSBK Race Two at Donington Park, after some more early scraps between the traditional top three riders.
The race was halted not long after it had started when Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad) experienced a huge highside exiting Coppice Corner. The chaos caused behind him saw Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) pushed wide, and subsequently unavoidably squeezing Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) off the track.
All three of those riders would fall, all ending up on the grass over the edge of the straight on the run up to the Foggy Esses.
Bautista made up for finishing second in the Superpole race with the final victory of the weekend.
A red flag was the only course of action to take, with Sykes taken to the Queen’s Medical centre in Nottingham, with the initial diagnosis being broken ribs, a fractured left ankle and thoracic trauma. Baz was upright and seemingly uninjured but Rinaldi had to be tended trackside before he was also taken away in an ambulance. All riders were conscious, and Rinaldi suffered a head knock and a less serious leg injury than was first feared, despite being hit by Sykes’ machine. He confirmed later that he did not break his ankle, as was first feared, and he would go home walking.
After the restart of what was now a 22-lap race, Bautista took an early lead but Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) dive-bombed him on lap two and then led for the next 12 laps, with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) also ahead of the Ducati rider until lap ten.
It would end up as another fading race for Rea, as Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) scooped up his first podium in WorldSBK after a strong ride and a calm finish, with several riders right behind him.
Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) moved forward at pace to overtake Rea and take fourth place, leaving Rea fifth and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) sixth.
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) managed to pass Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) right at the end to secure seventh place. Ninth went to Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) and tenth to Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati), who rode amazingly well on the grass in the original first start incident to avoid all the crashing riders.
From Redding in fourth to Gerloff in ninth place, the gap was just less than two seconds.
In the championship points, Bautista has a lead of 93 over Razgatlioglu – 357 to 263. Locatelli is still third on 175 with Rea fourth on 163.
2023 British WorldSBK Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 2.650s |
| 3 |
Danilo Petrucci |
(Duc) |
+ 7.936 |
| 4 |
Scott Redding |
(BMW) |
+ 9.198s |
| 5 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 9.506s |
Sunday WorldSSP Race Two
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) ended up a WorldSSP race winner once again, taking the second race victory of the Donington weekend. He not only broke his own lap record but he set a new track best of 1’29.018, even faster than his Superpole time or his previous track best set in morning warm-up.
Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) ended up second, after early second place runner Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) fell at the Melbourne Loop while chasing the leading rider, regaining the track soon after.
In his eagerness to come through to the podium places quickly again he ran Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and to a lesser degree Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) off the track and was punished by a long-lap detour, losing a few more places he had to make up again.
Double trouble for Bulega with the second Donington race win.
The final rider on the podium was perennial WorldSSP force, Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati). He ended up 3.6 seconds behind Bulega.
Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) was a strong and over-inspired fourth, with Manzi eventually fifth, 3.7 seconds behind the teenage Spanish rider.
Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki) scored double digit points for sixth, winning a final contest with Debise, who recovered from his ‘Manzi-induced’ moment at the Old Hairpin.
After Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) experienced a slow but violent highside at Goddards, the top MV Agusta finisher was Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 800 RR), in eighth place.
Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was ninth and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) tenth.
Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing Ducati) did not race once again, due to his left shoulder injury.
In the championship points Bulega has 267, Manzi 192 (55 points behind), Caricasulo 156 (now tied with Schrötter).
2023 British WorldSSP Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Yari Montella |
(Duc) |
+ 2.119s |
| 3 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Duc) |
+ 3.629s |
| 4 |
Adrian Huertas |
(Kaw) |
+ 7.880s |
| 5 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
+ 11.657 |
Sunday Superpole Race
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) led for most of the ten lap Superpole Race at Donington Park but he was eventually passed by race winner Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) and then second placed rider Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) pushed him to third place, with no time or genuine opportunity to re-pass before the finish line.
Razgatlioglu went through into the Melbourne Loop hairpin on the penultimate lap, while Bautista passed into the Foggy Esses and kept Rea behind him into the hairpin and then the final left of Goddards.
Razgatlioglu pulled a late pass on Rea to take the Superpole race win.
Fourth place went to Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team), fifth to Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati). Alex Lowes (KRT) and Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) completed a four rider group behind the podium trio.
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) was a lone eighth, with Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati) rounded out the top ten. Local rider and 2023 WorldSBK regular rider Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) placed 12th, ahead of both factory Hondas.
2023 British WorldSBK Results—Superpole Race
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.315s |
| 3 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.537s |
| 4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 4.247s |
| 5 |
Danilo Petrucci |
(Duc) |
+ 5.018s |
Saturday WorldSSP Race One
After WorldSBK Race One had taken place the WorldSSP hordes had their first points-scoring competition at Donington, on a dry track.
To no one’s surprise, the race winner was championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati), who broke the lap record – now 1’29.511 – on his way to his latest race victory.
Nicolo Bulega said “bye-bye” and checked out for an easy win.
Finally, he only won by a second, losing some of the cushion he had built up earlier in the race, with Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) the runner-up, but closing in on the final laps. Third place, taking his team’s first in WorldSSP, went to Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) who held off the challenge of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati).
Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Yamaha) was fifth and the top Kawasaki rider was Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki).
The hugely experienced Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) went seventh, one place up on Misano podium finisher and top Donington MV Agusta runner, Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).
Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki) was a more than solid ninth and French rider Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) rounded out the top 10.
2023 British WorldSSP Results—Race One
| 1 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
+ 1.231s |
| 3 |
Yari Montella |
(Duc) |
+ 6.615s |
| 4 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Duc) |
+ 10.903s |
| 5 |
G. van Straalen |
(Yam) |
+ 17.833s |
Saturday WorldSBK Race One
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) came from a front-row starting position to an eventual clear race-winning performance after 23 laps of occasionally dramatic Donington WorldSBK action.
In the early laps the big three in WorldSBK – Bautista, eventual second-placed rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team), and third-placed man at the flag Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) – looked capable of being on the top step.
There were multiple early battles and overtakes which brought the following pack into podium contention until superior pace and experience told and the top three eased forward into a comfort zone for each at the flag.
After early skirmishes, Bautista came good for another win.
In eventually sunny conditions Bautista finally got some clear air out and proceeded to break the lap record three times, finally leaving the new best pace at 1’26.550 as he escaped to a margin of victory of 3.718 seconds.
Rea was finally 6.1 seconds behind the winner, in a race where almost every rider chose the SC0 rear and the SC1 front to handle the abrasive new Donington Asphalt.
Just off podium, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) had his best result since he joined WorldSBK in fourth place. In fifth, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) claimed the scalp of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) as the Kawasaki rider slowed compared to all those around him over the final ten laps or so.
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) in seventh, managed to defend his position against Scott Redding (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who in turn got past Tom Sykes (BMW ROKit BMW Motorrad) on the last of 23 laps.
Tenth place was scooped up by Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha), albeit crossing the line almost 26 seconds behind the race winner.
2023 British WorldSBK Results—Race One
| 1 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
|
| 2 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 3.718s |
| 3 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 6.115s |
| 4 |
Danilo Petrucci |
(Duc) |
+ 7.855s |
| 5 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 10.738s |
WorldSBK Superpole
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) secured his first pole position start of the 2023 season with a new track best of 1’26.041 at Donington Park. The entire Superpole competition was run on a – finally – dry track, but in cool and overcast conditions after overnight rains.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) ended up second, but like several other riders he fell late in the 30-minute session, without injury.
It’s a home pole for Jonathan Rea.
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) posted the third best Superpole time and was top Independent Rider.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) was 0.369 seconds behind Rea, in fourth place.
Local resident Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) ended up fifth on the grid for Race One, with Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha) sixth.
A late push from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) saw him displace the fastest BMW of Tom Sykes (ROKit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), with Locatelli finally seventh and Sykes eighth.
A late fall for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) left him ninth with Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) rounding out the top ten.
Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team) was 16th on the grid for his home race.
2023 British WorldSBK Results—Superpole
| 1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
1:26.041s |
| 2 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Duc) |
+ 0.068s |
| 3 |
Danilo Petrucci |
(Duc) |
+ 0.164s |
| 4 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 0.369s |
| 5 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.381s |
Friday WorldSBK
A second WorldSBK Free Practice session that started with drops of rain in all sectors and ended with a fully wet track surface saw only two riders improve on their FP1 best lap times, That left the fastest rider from FP1, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), out front on the combined best times thanks to his early 1’27.627 pace.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) improved on his FP1 time in the afternoon session but remained second overall. Third place went to FP1 runner Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati).
Inclement weather made for patchy on-track conditions. Rea was only one of two to improve his time.
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) secured fourth place in the overnight rankings, pre-Superpole qualifying on Saturday, thanks to his FP2 time.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) did not ride in FP2, like the majority of riders, but was fifht fastest, one place ahead of reigning BSB Champion, Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing. WorldSBK Team).
Greatest WorldSBK pole setter of all time, Tom Sykes (BMW ROKit BMW Motorrad), with current World Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) eighth. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten.
FP3 and Superpole qualifying will take place on Saturday at Donington, before Race One starts at 14.00 local time in the UK.
2023 British WorldSBK Results—Friday
| 1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
1:27.627s |
| 2 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 0.012s |
| 3 |
Philipp Oettl |
(Duc) |
+ 0.130s |
| 4 |
Axel Bassani |
(Duc) |
+ 0.154s |
| 5 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.230s |
WorldSSP
On a day when every single WorldSSP rider set his best Friday time in FP1, before heavy rains blighted the FP2 session, Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) led the overnight qualifying classification at Donington Park.
Close behind came the first Ducati of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati).
Only one session for WorldSSP saw Manzi land P1.
Two more Panigale V2 riders made it into the early top four, with championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) third and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Ducati) just 0.019 seconds from an early top three position.
On home ground ‘WorldSSP Challenge’ rider Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki) – who only races at the European rounds – was fifth and thus the top Kawasaki rider.
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) placed sixth, as he continues to gather pace in his stand-in role for the injured team regular Can Öncü.
Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) made it a closely packed trio of well-placed Kawasaki riders by going seventh fastest.
Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was eighth. Top Triumph rider, Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) ended his team’s first day racing at home in ninth. Declared fit to ride just before this round began, Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) was tenth. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) placed 11th and Aussie youngster Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing Ducati) ended day one 12th.
2023 British WorldSSP Results—Friday
| 1 |
Stefano Manzi |
(Yam) |
1:30.177 |
| 2 |
Yari Montella |
(Duc) |
+ 0.015s |
| 3 |
Nicolo Bulega |
(Duc) |
+ 0.253s |
| 4 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Duc) |
+ 0.272s |
| 5 |
Tom Booth-Amos |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.352s |
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