Catalunya World Superbike Superpole Race Results: Bautista wins but Rea crashes

Results from the Superpole Race, round four of the 2023 World Superbike Championship in Catalunya, Spain.

07 May 2023

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Catalunya 2023

World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista has won again as rain caused choas during the final laps of the Catalunya Superpole Race

Following a couple of sluggish race starts on Saturday, Bautista had no such issues during the Superpole Race as he was unchallenged into turn one.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi also made another great start as he went from fourth to second, while Toprak Razgatlioglu came from eighth to fifth.

The Yamaha rider quickly got through on Lowes at turn three to make that P4, however, the Kawasaki rider responded just two corners later.

Not to be denied, Razgatlioglu got back ahead of Lowes at turn 11 before closing in on Rea.

Unlike Race 1 when it took the entire race for Razgatlioglu to overtake Rea, the 2021 world champion made his move as early as lap two.

Using a softer front tyre compared to his rivals, Razgatlioglu had a clear pace advantage on every rider except Bautista.

Razgatlioglu’s stunning charge continued on lap three as he overtook Rinaldi at turn 11.

With Razgatlioglu up to second, Bautista put the hammer down in order to pull clear. The Ducati rider extended his lead to 1.8 seconds with less than half-race distance remaining.

Seemingly with more pace than Razgatlioglu, Rinaldi began to challenge the Yamaha rider on lap eight as the pair exchanged second place on four occasions.

Then came huge drama as rain began to fall which led to Rea passing Rinaldi and Razgatlioglu on lap nine.

However, Razgatlioglu dived back to the inside of Rea heading into turn one on the final lap, before Rea lost the front-end of his Kawasaki under braking.

There was no contact between the pair as Rea surprisingly crashed from a completely upright position.

Bautista remained unchallenged as he took yet another win, while Locatelli completed a stunning final lap to claim third behind Razgatlioglu.

2023 World Superbike Catalunya, Spain - Superpole Race Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	10 Laps
2	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+2.110s
3	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+2.385s
4	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+2.868s
5	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+2.965s
6	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+3.257s
7	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+3.398s
8	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+4.102s
9	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+4.884s
10	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+6.031s
11	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+6.154s
12	Scott Redding	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+9.424s
13	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+10.428s
14	Bradley Ray	GBR	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+14.325s
15	Ivo Lopes	POR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+14.441s
16	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+21.393s
17	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	+23.623s
18	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+26.209s
19	Tom Sykes	GBR	Puccetti Kawasaki	+26.566s
20	Isaac Vinales	SPA	TPR by Vinales Racing	+34.300s
21	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	DNF
22	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	DNF