Catalunya WorldSBK Race 1 Results: Bautista strolls to victory
Alvaro Bautista takes a dominant WorldSBK race one victory in Catalunya as Toprak Razgatlioglu faded badly from second place to fifth.
Starting from pole position for the first time in his Superbike career, Iker Lecuona made a poor start as he was pushed down to fifth by turn one.
Making equally good starts were the top two in the championship as Bautista went from fifth to first by turn one, while Razgatlioglu went from eighth to seventh.
Going in the wrong direction, Jonathan Rea dropped from P3 down to seventh before a mistake from Michael Ruben Rinaldi on lap four allowed Lecuona, Axel Bassani and Rea through.
Like Rinaldi, Bassani made an identical mistake at turn one as he ran wide and through the escape road, however, the Italian navigated it much quicker than Rinaldi and thus managed to stay ahead of Rea.
After resisting early pressure from Razgatlioglu, Bautista began to open the gap to the Yamaha rider as Alex Lowes fell into the clutches of Lecuona in the battle for third.
Continuing to struggle in sixth, Rea then came under pressure from Andrea Locatelli before a mistake at turn ten resulted in the Yamaha rider losing seventh to Garrett Gerloff.
Aware that every point matters for his championship challenge, Rea began a charge on Bassani for fifth - a first move came at turn 10 but Bassani got back through as the six-time world champion ran slightly wide.
| 2022 World Superbike Barcelona, Spain - Race Results (1) | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | 21 Laps |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +8.665s |
| 3 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +9.289s |
| 4 | Michael Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +10.783s |
| 5 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +13.568s |
| 6 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +13.655s |
| 7 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +14.013s |
| 8 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +14.839s |
| 9 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +29.775s |
| 10 | Eugene Laverty | IRL | Bonovo Action BMW | +30.094s |
| 11 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | +30.390s |
| 12 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +31.755s |
| 13 | Roberto Tamburini | ITA | Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +33.055s |
| 14 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Puccetti Kawasaki | +35.962s |
| 15 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Motor Sport Yamaha | +37.498s |
| 16 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha | +45.108s |
| 17 | Oscar Gutierrez | SPA | Pedercini Kawasaki | +46.958s |
| 18 | Leandro Mercado | ARG | MIE Honda Racing | +55.315s |
| 19 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +57.534s |
| 20 | Michael Van Der Mark | SPA | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | DNF |
| 21 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | DNF |
| 22 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | DNF |
| 23 | Luca Bernardi | SM | Barni Spark Ducati Team | DNF |
A mirror-image of that overtake took place on the following lap as Bassani again retained the position. But after getting great drive off the final corner, Rea managed to complete the move at turn one.
With Rea now in fifth, the Kawasaki rider slowly started to catch Lecuona and Lowes, although no move was imminent.
That soon changed with seven laps to go as Rea made his way through on Lowes for fourth [turn one].
As Rea made it back-to-back overtakes with a move on Lecuona with six to go, Razgatlioglu, who was clearly struggling after using too much of his rear tyre to go with Bautista early on, then started dropping into the clutches of Rea.
Just behind Rea, Gerloff produced a brilliant double overtake on Lowes and Lecuona heading into turn one to pick up fourth place.
A mistake from Razgatlioglu then allowed Rea to come through with just four laps remaining. It then got worse for Razgatlioglu as Gerloff pounced on the struggling Turk at turn one, impressively out-braking the reigning world champion.
WorldSBK Catalunya Records
Lap Record - Tom Sykes GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team 1:40.408s
2021 Race Winners
Race 1 - Scott Redding GBR Aruba.it Ducati
Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team
Race 2 - Michael Ruben Rinaldi ITA Aruba.it Ducati
Scott Redding’s impressive run of form in recent rounds took a big hit after the Brit crashed out at turn one early on.
Michael Van Der Mark, Philipp Oettl and Luca Bernardi were the other riders who failed to finish.
2022 WorldSBK Catalunya Weekend Schedule
Saturday
Free Practice 3 - 08:00-08:30
Superpole - 10:10-10:25
Race One 13:00
Sunday
Warm-up - 08:00-08:15
Superpole Race - 10:00
Race Two - 13:00
