Catalunya World Superbike Race 2 Results: Bautista a hat-trick hero again

Results from Race 2, round four of the 2023 World Superbike Championship in Catalunya, Spain.

07 May 2023

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Catalunya 2023

Alvaro Bautista has completed his third hat-trick of the season after winning Race 2 of the Catalunya World Superbike round in dominant style.

As was the case during the final laps of the Superpole Race, rain again began to fall prior to Race 2.

But despite rain being in the air, it wasn't enough to dampen the circuit as riders began the final race of the weekend on slick tyres.

After a slow launch, Bautista managed to retain the lead into turn one before Michael Ruben Rinaldi overtook Toprak Razgatlioglu for second at turn four.

But then, for the first time all weekend, Bautista was overtaken as Razgatlioglu produced a sensational double overtake heading into turn five.

Lap one saw Hafizh Syahrin and Tom Sykes end their race early after an incident at turn five.

Back at the front, Bautista wasted no time on getting the lead back as Rinaldi followed him through along the start-finish straight.

Unable to break clear initially, Bautista was then beginning to come under pressure from Alex Lowes after the Kawasaki rider passed Razgatlioglu and Rinaldi.

On lap four, Bautista set a new fastest lap of the race and broke clear by over nine tenths. Lowes was then relegated to third as Rinaldi lined-up a move coming out of the final corner before out-dragging the British rider.

Beginning to struggle with the pace at the front, Lowes was immediately gapped by Rinaldi as Razgatlioglu started to apply pressure.

Razgatlioglu then made his move stick with 14 laps to go after pulling off his favourite hard-braking overtake into turn one.

While Lowes was keeping pace with Razgatlioglu, Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea were beginning to fade as Xavi Vierge was not far behind.

In the lower points scoring positions, Scott Redding’s dismal weekend continued with seven laps to go as a technical issue brought an end to his race.

In a league of his own, as has been the case all weekend, Bautista extending his lead to over seven seconds, while Rinaldi also held a three second gap to Razgatlioglu with just a couple of laps remaining.

Rinaldi then lost over two seconds on the final lap before being beaten to the line in shocking fashion by Razgatlioglu.

2023 World Superbike Catalunya, Spain - Race (2) Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	20 Laps
2	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+8.583s
3	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+8.643s
4	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+11.366s
5	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+12.824s
6	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+15.242s
7	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+15.771s
8	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+16.516s
9	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+18.946s
10	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+19.637s
11	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+21.561s
12	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+23.410s
13	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+25.255s
14	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+29.381s
15	Bradley Ray	GBR	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+34.437s
16	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+37.717s
17	Ivo Lopes	POR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+37.757s
18	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	DNF
19	Scott Redding	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	DNF
20	Tom Sykes	GBR	Puccetti Kawasaki	DNF
21	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	DNF
22	Isaac Vinales	SPA	TPR by Vinales Racing	DNF