Assen World Superbike Superpole Race Results: Bautista wins again

Results from the Superpole Race, round 3 of the 2023 World Superbike championship at Assen, Netherlands.

23 Apr 2023

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Assen 2023

World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista has completed the double in Assen ahead of Race 2, after getting the better of Jonathan Rea during the Superpole Race.

After being awarded a three-place grid penalty for Race 1, along with Axel Bassani due to slow-riding in qualifying, Bautista was back at the head of the field for the start of the Superpole Race.

Prior to the race getting underway, Loris Baz stopped at the side of the track after encountering a mechanical issue on the formation lap.

The race start was then delayed due to liquid coming out of Baz’s M 1000 RR at turn seven, before a new schedule of 8 laps was confirmed.

After a 15 minute delay, the race finally got underway as Rea got a brilliant launch to beat Bautista down to turn one.

However, Bautista was not to be held back as he regained the lead before the end of lap one, while Razgatlioglu and Lowes were very close to the leading duo.

Trying to break clear, Bautista was appearing to be on the limit as his Ducati was seen sliding on more than one occasion when entering corners.

But Bautista was not pulling clear as Rea, Razgatlioglu and Lowes all remained in contention.

Shaping up for a move with 3 laps to go, Rea got very close to Bautista on the run to turn seven but was unable to stage an attack. Bautista then opened up the gap as he set the fastest lap of the race with two laps to go before controlling the gap en route to victory.

2023 World Superbike Assen, Netherlands - Superpole Race Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	8 Laps
2	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.916s
3	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+1.757s
4	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+3.126s
5	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+6.067s
6	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+6.781s
7	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+7.054s
8	Scott Redding	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+7.125s
9	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+8.568s
10	Michael Van Der Mark	NED	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+10.344s
11	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+10.546s
12	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+11.246s
13	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+11.807s
14	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+12.037s
15	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+12.825s
16	Bradley Ray	GRB	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+13.079s
17	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+13.549s
18	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+20.193s
19	Tom Sykes	GBR	Puccetti Kawasaki	+21.340s
20	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	+24.463s
21	Eric Granado	BRA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+25.353s
22	Gabriele Ruiu	ITA	Bmax Racing	+25.706s
23	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+27.243s
24	Isaac Vinales	SPA	TPR by Vinales Racing	DNF
25	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	DNS