Indonesian World Superbike Results: Rinaldi doubles up to lead Bautista in FP2

Results from Free Practice 1 & 2, round 2 of the 2023 World Superbike championship at Mandalika, Indonesia.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Ducati WorldSBK Mandalika 2023
Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Ducati WorldSBK Mandalika 2023

Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Ducati look to be in ominous form after completing a Friday clean sweep during World Superbike practice in Mandalika. 

In Free Practice 2 it was Jonathan Rea who set the pace early on, holding a substantial advantage over the rest of the field before Rinaldi closed to +0.037s.

While Rinaldi continued showing impressive pace, teammate Alvaro Bautista suffered an early crash at turn one. 

With Rinaldi once again on a lap that looked set to take him to the top of the leaderboard, the Aruba.it Ducati rider instead had his lap deleted due to exceeding track limits.

Yet to join his main rivals at the front was Toprak Razgatlioglu, with the Yamaha rider making a quick return to pit lane. 

Razgatlioglu then moved up to seventh at the beginning of his second stint, while Rinaldi finally took over top spot by nearly two tenths. 

Showing no ill effects of his early tumble, Bautista immediately went fastest after re-joining the action.

2023 World Superbike Mandalika, Indonesia - Free Practice (2) Results
PosRiderNatTeamTime
1Michael RinaldiITAAruba.It Racing Ducati1:32.468s
2Alvaro BautistaSPAAruba.It Racing Ducati+0.029s
3Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+0.157s
4Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.735s
5Michael Van Der MarkNEDROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+0.745s
6Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+0.906s
7Alex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.992s
8Andrea LocatelliITAPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+1.077s
9Axel BassaniITAMotocorsa Ducati+1.243s
10Scott ReddingGBRROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+1.277s
11Xavi ViergeSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+1.325s
12Dominique AegerterSWIGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+1.369s
13Loris BazFRABonovo Action BMW+1.375s
14Garrett GerloffUSABonovo Action BMW+1.651s
15Danilo PetrucciITABarni Spark Racing Team+1.656s
16Philipp OettlGERGoEleven Ducati+1.892s
17Iker LecuonaSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+1.984s
18Lorenzo BaldassarriITAGMT94 Yamaha+2.733s
19Hafizh SyahrinMALPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team+3.563s
20Tom SykesGBRPuccetti Kawasaki+3.672s
21Oliver KonigCZEOrelac Racing MOVISIO+3.840s
22Eric GranadoBRAPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team+3.905s

Despite Razgatlioglu continuing to make improvements, it was Remy Gardner that was the top Yamaha with more than half the session gone as he sat fourth, one place higher than the 2021 world champion.  

Iker Lecuona suffered a second fall of the weekend at turn ten before returning to pit lane and showing huge frustration in the Honda garage. 

Back at the front, Rinaldi looked set to go fastest once again before catching a slow moving Lecuona, prior to the Honda rider returning to the pits. 

Razgatlioglu then dislodged Bautista with the first sub 1m 33s lap of the weekend, however, Bautista’s response was immediate as he returned to the top by over a tenth. 

Toprak Razgatlioglu , Indonesian WorldSBK, 3 March
Toprak Razgatlioglu , Indonesian WorldSBK, 3 March

Rinaldi then produced a brilliant lap to make it back-to-back practice sessions at the top of the leaderboard, showing that he might have the pace to fight his teammate for the win on Saturday.

Rinaldi sets the pace in Mandalika World Superbike FP1

2023 World Superbike Mandalika, Indonesia - Free Practice (1) Results
PosRiderNatTeamTime
1Michael RinaldiITAAruba.It Racing Ducati1:34.613s
2Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+0.056s
3Alvaro BautistaSPAAruba.It Racing Ducati+0.170s
4Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.188s
5Xavi ViergeSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+0.225s
6Remy GardnerAUSGRT Yamaha+0.579s
7Andrea LocatelliITAPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+0.707s
8Alex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.920s
9Philipp OettlGERGoEleven Ducati+0.958s
10Michael Van Der MarkNEDROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+1.529s
11Scott ReddingGBRROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+1.602s
12Garrett GerloffUSABonovo Action BMW+1.661s
13Axel BassaniITAMotocorsa Ducati+1.891s
14Dominique AegerterSWIGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+1.898s
15Loris BazFRABonovo Action BMW+2.271s
16Danilo PetrucciITABarni Spark Racing Team+2.317s
17Hafizh SyahrinMALPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing+2.474s
18Tom SykesGBRPuccetti Kawasaki+3.113s
19Lorenzo BaldassarriITAGMT94 Yamaha+3.388s
20Oliver KonigCZEOrelac Racing MOVISIO+3.995s
21Eric GranadoBRAPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing+4.905s
22Iker LecuonaSPATeam HRC WorldSBKNo Time Set

Despite a crash on his opening run at turn 10, Rinaldi was fastest for Ducati ahead of Razgatlioglu. 

Less than a tenth separated Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu, while championship leader Bautista was third - +0.170s down on his teammate.

Fourth fastest and also in contention was Kawasaki’s Rea, after the six-time champion endured a difficult opening round at Phillip Island.

There were also crashes for Bonovo Action BMW rider Loris Baz, Iker Lecuona, who looked uncomfortable when returning to his Honda garage and Lorenzo Baldassarri, with the Italian suffering a big fall at turn six.

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