Interrupted crazy final WorldSBK bout at Mandalika

2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship

Round Two – Mandalika, Indonesia

WorldSBK Race Two

The track temperature had risen to 53-degrees when time for race two came around at Mandalika on Sunday afternoon. Most of the front runner had chosen the Pirelli SC2 front and SC0 rear.

Bautista had to start from tenth on the grid after going down in the Superpole race but was up to eighth place by turn one. Up front it was Superpole race victor Toprak Razgatlioglu leading his Pata Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli and being chased hard by Jonathan Rea, Axel Bassani, Alex Lowes, Xavi Vierge and Michael Rinaldi in seventh.

Bautista ran wide into turn two on the second lap but lost only one position. Andrea Locatelli took the lead a few turns later and once that door was opened Locatelli was followed through by Rea, Lowes and Rinaldi all passed Razgatlioglu to shuffled the Turk back to fifth position. Bassani actually clipped Razgatlioglu on his way through and that was what had allowed the other riders to also slip through.

Bassani then took the lead after slipping up the inside of Locatelli on change of direction which sent the Yamaha man wide and slip all the way down to seventh by the time he was back up to speed on the racing line.

Michael Rinaldi was making progress, passing Lowes for fourth place, then up the inside of Rea to take second place and make it a Ducati 1-2 up front. A lap later Rinaldi then took the lead from Bassani.

With 16 laps to run second placed Axel Bassani was ordered by stewards to drop one position for irresponsible riding. Bassani looked over his shoulder then opened the door to allow Lowes through but Toprak Razgatlioglu also slipped through and stood the Ducati man up as he did so.

Toprak Razgatlioglu then took second place from Alex Lowes but by lap 15 Michael Rinaldi had a two-second lead. Alex Lowes took evasive action not to run into the back of Toprak which saw the KRT man lose a number of position.

Jonathan Rea then slipped up the inside of Bassani and ran him so wide that he himself also ran wide which allowed Xavi Vierge through on not only Bassani, but also nearly himself.

Bautista had been steadily working his way forward and with 15 laps to run the defending champ was up to sixth place.

Danilo Petrucci slotted his Ducati up the inside of Michael van der Mark and pushed him wide to take ninth position from the BMW man who was then pushed further back by Iker Lecuona.

Xavi Vierge then got the better of Jonathan Rea for third position.

Michael van der Mark had a huge high-side out of 11th place which also took down Peter Oettl.

Alvaro Bautista then stole fourth place from Jonathan Rea with an inside move and latched onto the back of Xavi Vierge.

Scott Redding was running eighth but then lost the rear and low-sided while trying to take seventh place from Locatelli.

The red flag then came out to interrupt proceedings with 14 laps still to run. The action had been unrelenting over that previous couple of laps so I am not surprised that officials cried ‘enough’.

Michael Rinaldi was leading Toprak Razgatlioglu by 2.4-seconds when the race was halted. Xavi Vierge was third, Alvaro Bautista fourth and Jonathan Rea fifth. Remy Gardner was running 11th.

WorldSBK Race Two Part One Results

WorldSBK Race Two Part Two

The track temperature had risen further to 55-degrees ahead of the 14-lap re-start. Andrea Locatelli, Axel Bassani, Xavi Vierge, Michael Rinaldi and Scott Redding chose the SCX-A rear while the remainder of the top ten started on the SC0 rear. The only riders in the top ten not to choose the SC2 front were Alvaro Bautista and Michael Rinaldi, the Aruba Ducati pairing opting for the SC1 front.

Toprak Razgatlioglu got a great run off the line but Michael Rinaldi still took the lead at turn one while Alvaro Bautista moved to third ahead of Xavi Vierge, Axel Bassani and Jonathan Rea. Bassani lost that fifth place to Rea on the opening lap.

Rinaldi immediately started building a solid lead out front while Razgatlioglu tried to keep Bautista at bay. Bautista finally made his way past the Turk with 11 laps to run.

The defending world champion then set about chasing down his team-mate. Whittling the gap down to seven-tenths with seven laps to run but he then ran wide and lost another second to his team-mate.

Jonathan Rea was running fifth behind Xavi Vierge but the Northern Irishman then crashed out at turn seven.

Bautista had been on the hunt for Rinaldi again and with four laps to run he was all over the back of his team-mate, the Spaniard’s SC0 rear having more life left in it than the softer SCX-A on the Italian’s Panigale V4 R. Bautista could afford to bide his time, knowing that he had the speed up his sleeve to make his move at a safe opportunity. He waited two laps before pulling alongside and then moving into the lead before immediately pulling away.

At the last lap board Bautista led Rinaldi by six-tenths. Toprak Razgatlioglu was in third place ahead of Xavi Vierge, Andrea Locatelli and Danilo Petrucci as Remy Gardner moved past Axel Bassani to take seveth place.

The on that final lap Michael Rinaldi ran very wide while chasing Bautista and was shuffled down to fourth position as Razgatlioglu and Vierge made their way past unchallenged.

Bautisa the victor, Razgatlioglu second and Vierge rounded out the podium ahead of Rinaldi, Locatelli, Petrucci and Remy Gardner scored nine-points for his seventh place finish.

Bautista leaves Indonesia with a 37-point lead over Razgatlioglu whose Pata Yamaha team-mate is a further five-points behind.

Michael van der Mark was diagnosed with a fracture of the base of the middle phalanx of the fourth and fifth fingers on the left hand while Jonathan Rea has deep abrasions on his right thigh.

The championship now has a six-week break before reconvening at Assen on the weekend of April 23.

WorldSBK Race Two Results

World Superbike Championship Points

2023 FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar
Date	Circuit	WSBK	WSSP600	WSSP300
24-26 Feb	Phillip Island	X	X
3-5 Mar	Mandalika	X	X
21-23 Apr	Assen	X	X	X
5-7 May	Catalunya	X	X	X
2-4 Jun	Misano	X	X	X
30 Jun-02 Jul	Donington Park	X	X
14-16 Jul	Imola	X	X	X
28-30 Jul	Autodrom Most	X	X	X
8-10 Sep	Magny-Cours	X	X	X
22-24 Sep	Aragón	X	X	X
29-Sep-01 Oct	Algarve	X	X	X
13-15 Oct	San Juan Villicum	X	X