WorldSBK Portugal Results, Race 2 - Pure brutality

WorldSBK heads to Portugal this weekend for the 11th and penultimate round of 2023, with Alvaro Bautista having his first chance to wrap up this year's riders' title. Check this page throughout the weekend for WorldSBK Portugal results.

Overview

Race 2 - Bautista defeats Razgatlioglu again for Portimao treble

Superpole Race - Bautista out-drags Razgatlioglu for Portimao sprint win

Race 1 - Bautista breaks early battle for commanding Race 1 win

Superpole - Rea on pole as yellow flags hamper several front runners

Combined Practice - Bautista dominates day one as Gerloff impresses in FP1

Race 2

WorldSBK Race 2 in Portimao offered Alvaro Bautista his first chance to mathematically clinch the 2023 title, but he was denied by Toprak Razgatlioglu’s second place.

Alvaro Bautista made a good launch from pole position, but it was Toprak Razgatlioglu who made the holeshot, while Andrea Locatelli and Remy Gardner made it three Yamahas in the top four early on.

Bautista was happy to sit behind Razgatlioglu for the first laps, but, knowing how the #54 is forced to attack on the brakes in turn one, Bautista began to focus on the exit in order to pass in turn two. 

It didn’t work, because Razgatlioglu just dive-bombed in turn three in retaliation. So, Bautista reverted to type, and just used advantages in grip and power to pass him in the straight again.

Bautista established himself at the front with 13 laps to go, set the fastest lap of the race, and that seemed to be it, but Razgatlioglu stuck with it, and passed at turn 13 two laps later. 

They exchanged positions innumerable times over the remaining laps. Bautista then led onto the final lap and, although Razgatlioglu led between the first and final corners, he had no defence on the exit of the final corner, where Bautista rode around the outside while the #54 Yamaha sat there spinning. 

Bautista’s Portimao treble was achieved at a critical moment, as he now heads to the final round in Jerez knowing that he needs only two points from the three races to be crowned champion.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi completed the podium, his gap to the leaders reduced thanks to their intense fighting. Behind him, Garrett Gerloff was fourth (top BMW), ahead of Andrea Locatelli (5th), Danilo Petrucci (6th), Iker Lecuona (7th, top Honda), Dominique Aegerter (8th), Philipp Oettl (9th), and Jonathan Rea (10th), who completed the top 10.

Full WorldSBK results from Race 2 in Portimao are below.

2023 WorldSBK Portugal Results | Race 2

Superpole Race

Sunny conditions prevailed once again for the WorldSBK Superpole Race in Portimao, which saw Alvaro Bautista once again come out on top.

Toprak Razgatlioglu made the holeshot from fourth  on the grid thanks to a great launch. He led into turn one from his Yamaha teammate Andrea Locatelli, who came under attack from Jonathan Rea at turn five. But Rea crashed, and so did his Kawasaki teammate Alex Lowes.

Alvaro Bautista started from fifth, and was sixth after turn three thanks to Michael van der Mark. But, he benefited from the Kawasaki crashes, and then he blitzed van der Mark in the straight to begin lap two in third place.

It took Bautista a few laps to get onto the back of Locatelli but, of course, when he did he simply blasted him in the straight. Locatelli spent one lap unable to respond, before they got back to the straight again and Bautista opened up the V4 again.

The charge Bautista put on to then catch Razgatlioglu showed the reason it is him that is able to get the most out of the Ducati. He is happy to let the bike slide in the braking for the dead-stop corners, taking weight off the front tyre; and, in the long corners, he is able to open the line of the corner and exploit the bike’s edge grip to carry more speed in the middle of the corner and into the exit.

Bautista hit the front for the first time with three laps to go, but Razgatlioglu immediately responded in braking for the first corner.

The battle went to the last lap, and Bautista was able to stay close enough until the final corner that he could beat Razgatlioglu out of it on the run to the line. In that instance, the #54 had no defence, and had to settle for second. It means that if Bautista wins and Razgatlioglu is lower than second place in Race 2 later today, then Bautista will be champion.

Andrea Locatelli completed the podium in a distant third place. The Italian lost four seconds to the leading pair in just the 10 laps of the Superpole Race. He did, though, have two seconds himself on Remy Gardner behind, who finished fourth. The six seconds Bautista and Razgatlioglu pulled on Gardner in those 10 laps is sure proof of the extent to which they were pushing. They both set 1:39.8 personal fastest laps (Razgatlioglu’s 0.01 seconds faster than Bautista’s) in the race, whereas Gardner’s best was a 1:40.5.

Iker Lecuona rounded out the top five on the leading Honda, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (6th), Michael van der Mark (7th, top BMW), Garrett Gerloff (8th), Xavi Vierge who took the final point in ninth, an Philipp Oettl who rounded out the top 10.

Full WorldSBK results from the Superpole Race in Portimao are below.

2023 WorldSBK Portugal Results | Superpole Race

Race 1

Domination by Alvaro Bautista is a sight WorldSBK has become accustomed to producing, and that was no different in Race 1 in Portimao.

Andrea Locatelli did not start from third place due to a penalty, and that promoted Toprak Razgatlioglu to the front row. It was the Turkish rider who made the holeshot, while Alvaro Bautista got his way up to third place from fourth.

With Razgatlioglu at the front and the title on the line this weekend, it might have been expected for the #54 to immediately make a break. That might have been his intention, but, in any case, Alex Lowes passed for the lead at turn one on lap two.

Eventually, Razgatlioglu got back to the front, but, at the same time, Bautista got himself up to second. It took a few laps from there, but eventually Bautista led onto the front straight, and that as good as ended the race for the lead on lap eight.

The battle between the two from that point was a cold war. Razgatlioglu was faster than Bautista between turn one and the penultimate turn to get the gap down to around 0.4 seconds; then Bautista was faster than Razgatlioglu from the exit of the penultimate corner to extend it back to between 0.8 seconds and one second.

That lasted until lap 15, when Bautista broke the one-second mark. From there, the gap slowly grew, and Razgatlioglu’s new-found on-track isolation meant he was able to focus fully on his championship chances escaping up the road on a motorcycle which is faster and which generates more grip than his Yamaha.

Bautista’s winning margin was 2.098 seconds in the end, while Razgatlioglu had a further 4.692 seconds back to Jonathan Rea. WorldSBK’s ‘three kings’ once again locked out the podium.

Garrett Gerloff’s qualifying let him down. This is not a novelty, unfortunately for the American, but his race pace was strong. He came through to fourth place by the end, finishing just over one second ahead of Alex Lowes on the second Kawasaki. 

Remy Gardner has won two Moto2 Grands Prix in Portimao - in 2020 and 2021 - and the first one in particular was in especially commanding fashion. Early in the race, the Australian was showing similarly devastating pace to that he showed in the 2020 Moto2 GP, but, in the end, he could do no better than sixth. Still, it marks a step up from where the Australian has been in recent race. 

Michael van der Mark was the top BMW rider for most of the race, but he was passed by Gerloff at the end, and ended up seventh. Iker Lecuona brought Honda another top 10 in eighth, ahead of Andrea Locatelli who came from last on the grid to ninth, and Xavi Vierge who completed the top 10.

Full WorldSBK results from Race 1 in Portimao are below.

2023 WorldSBK Portugal Results | Race 1

Superpole

Sunny conditions presented themselves to the WorldSBK riders for Superpole in Portugal. Jonathan Rea has won 13 times at the Algarve circuit, and he will start Race 1 and the Superpole Race from pole position.

The lack of SCQ tyres in Portimao this weekend (due to the aggressive surface and the layout which is so hard on the right side of the tyre) might have been expected to make more difference in the races than in Superpole, but it was certainly not a ‘normal’ session.

That is mostly because the two best riders of the season - Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu - could do no better than seventh and sixth places, respectively. Razgatlioglu had struggled for speed all weekend, so it was not a total surprise to see him a bit further down than usual, but Bautista’s pace had been strong since FP1, and so his lack of Superpole speed was somewhat mysterious. Both of their qualifyings were saved somewhat by a number of laps being deleted for yellow flags brought out by a crash for Xavi Vierge. That promoted Razgatlioglu to fourth by the end, and Bautista to fifth.

In their absence from contending for the front positions, it was hardly surprising to see Jonathan Rea take point in Superpole. A near lap record 1:39.620 gave him pole position, and he will surely be a podium contender in the three upcoming races. Alex Lowes ensured a Kawasaki 1-2, while Andrea Locatelli completed the front row in third place and as the top Yamaha rider.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (4th) and Alvaro Bautista (5th, top Ducati) will be joined by Iker Lecuona (6th, top Honda) on row two, the Spaniard continuing in his good form from Aragon.

Michael van der Mark (7th, top BMW) will head up the third row, ahead of Danilo Petrucci (8th), and Remy Gardner (9th), the Australian being one of those to lose a lap for yellow flags.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the biggest loser from the yellow flags, though. His fastest lap would have put him second, but his second-fastest lap - which is the one with which he qualified after that second-placed time got cancelled - was good enough for only 13th.

Full WorldSBK results from Superpole in Portugal are below.

2023 WorldSBK Portugal Results | Superpole

Combined Practice

2023 WorldSBK Portugal Results | Combined Practice