Imola World Superbike Race (1) Results: Bautista breaks Razgatlioglu's defence

Results from Race 1, round eight of the 2023 World Superbike Championship at Imola, Italy.

15 Jul 2023

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Imola 2023

Despite a good launch, polesitter Toprak Razgatlioglu was demoted down to fourth as Andrea Locatelli claimed the lead ahead of Axel Bassani and Alvaro Bautista.

After running wide at turn one [lap two] Bautista put himself under pressure from Razgatlioglu as Bassani began to challenge Locatelli for the race lead.

Both battles saw no change in position, however, that all changed further into the lap as Bassani took the lead at turn 17.

A big moment at the beginning of lap three saw Bassani lose the lead as Bautista and Razgatlioglu also came through. Bassani got all out of shape as he made the change of direction between turns two and three.

Then came a stunning move from Razgatlioglu as he out-braked Bautista around the outside at turn 14.

Razgatlioglu then made an immediate bid for the race lead, but like Bautista, he went too deep at turn two and handed back the initiative to Locatelli.

Razgatlioglu finally got the move complete on lap four before Bautista did the same for P2.

Bautista, who was visibly pushing, reeled in Razgatlioglu very quickly as Jonathan Rea’s progress continued by passing Locatelli for third.

Looking like the clear favourite, Bautista then had a huge moment on the approach to turn 14 as he lost second to Rea. However, the world champion bite straight back and reclaimed the position two corners later.

After several laps of trying to make a pass again on Razgatlioglu, Bautista finally got the move done with eight laps to go.

Great drive coming out of turn 15 saw Bautista fly past under acceleration, before defending the inside line.

Bautista began to gap Razgatlioglu straight away as he set a new fastest lap of the race on lap 13.

2023 World Superbike Imola, Italy - Race (1) Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	19 Laps
2	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+3.672s
3	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+7.847s
4	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+13.543s
5	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+15.898s
6	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+18.551s
7	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+20.633s
8	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+21.727s
9	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+22.082s
10	Scott Redding	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+26.052s
11	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+36.865s
12	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+37.032s
13	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+37.282s
14	Leon Haslam	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+37.827s
15	Bradley Ray	GBR	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+38.943s
16	Tito Rabat	SPA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+58.025s
17	Gabriele Ruiu	ITA	Bmax Racing BWM	+58.206s
18	Roberto Tamburini	ITA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+59.022s
19	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	DNF
20	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	DNF
21	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	DNF
22	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	DNF
23	Eric Granado	BRA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	DNF
24	Isaac Vinales	SPA	TPR by Vinales Racing	DNF
25	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	DNF