The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Pirelli Portuguese Round will live long in the memory of fans, riders and paddock personnel after the titanic fight between two heavyweight stars. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu swapped and changed for the lead some 35 times in a rivalry that has always been full of respect. It’s happened before too, so we put down some of the most memorable below.

Estoril Race 1, 2022 – a sign of things to come in Portugal

After it was initially a Razgatlioglu vs Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) battle, the first time the pair were on track after their famous clash and crash at Assen, Bautista honed into contention from over two seconds back at one point. Razgatlioglu and Rea swapped places lap on lap, even touching at Turn 6. However, a Rea error let the #19 of Bautista through into P2 and both he and reigning World Champion Razgatlioglu pulled clear in the final laps. Bautista would get briefly ahead on the straight but Toprak was deep on the brakes. However, on the final lap, Ducati power blasted Bautista through on the run to the line, serving as a prelude to what would come 315km further south a year and a half later.

Portimao Superpole Race, 2023 – the trailer before the movie

Earlier on in the day, we got a teaser of what was to come with the Superpole Race also being a gloves off battle. However, perhaps it could be expected to happen, with the shorter 10-lap race always providing opportunities – look at 2022, when Razgatlioglu rode to one of the best race wins of his career. In the Superpole Race this year, more of the same and despite leading throughout the last lap, the last sector for Bautista was too strong for the Turk to resist and be beat him on the run to the line. Razgatlioglu was angry then…

San Juan Superpole Race, 2022 – a true tango in Argentina

A decisive race in making sure that the title fight went as far as possible, the San Juan Superpole Race of last year was the latest in a catalogue of fights between Bautista and Razgatlioglu in their duel for the crown. This one featured Jonathan Rea too, who made a mistake at Turn 1 from the lead, with all three going bar-to-bar in the final three laps. Toprak made passes at Turn 1 to hold on to the coat tails of Bautista, whilst the Spaniard could ease through on the backstraight. On the last lap Razgatlioglu let the brakes off at Turn 8 (where he crashed out doing the same of Race 1 on Lap 1), pushing Bautista wide but it was enough to come away with the win.

Most Race 2, 2023 – the craziest late braking ever seen

Before Sunday at Portimao, we thought that this was the race where Toprak Razgatlioglu demonstrated his craziest determination yet, having fought to the front at Turn 13 with 16 to go. Lap after lap, Bautista would get alongside and often ahead on the front straight but Razgatlioglu’s resilience was unbelievable, letting the brakes off and continuously getting to the Turn 1 apex first. Then, with eight to go, Bautista finally changed tactic and went to the inside. However, overtake of the year had to go to the #54, who went around the outside to lead at the first chicane. After pulling away over the next two laps, it was an unfortunate end to Razgatlioglu’s charge, as a rear tyre failure ended his race on the exit of Turn 2.

Portimao Race 2, 2023 – 35 passes for the lead in an instant classic

So, we’ve arrived; the best race of 2023, maybe in recent times, Race 2 at Portimao has already been revered as not just a true WorldSBK classic but one of the greatest motorsport battles, in the words of Andrea Dosoli. Doing whatever he could, Razgatlioglu knew he had to bring his A-game to remain in contention with Bautista; the Spaniard able to pass him or remain in contention himself with a brilliant final corner and top speed down the straight. Ultimately, 35 passes for the race lead occurred from Lap 1 until the chequered flag and despite putting in the most unbelievable of efforts, the 2021 Champion was beaten by the Championship leader on the last run to the line by just 0.126s, the 12^th time the Turk has been beaten by less than half a second. The scenes of disappointment, celebration as well as sportsmanship, respect and a good rivalry immediately afterwards were reminiscent of many before it as these modern rivals continue to fight for the title.

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Plenty of pieces have fallen in the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship line-up, with Axel Bassani’s (Motocorsa Racing) switch to the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK for next season announced at Portimao. Speaking during the Portuguese Round, Bassani’s 2024 teammate, Alex Lowes, and the rider he’s replacing, Jonathan Rea, spoke about what the #47 can bring to the Japanese manufacturer when he joins.

BASSANI’S IMPRESSIVE FORM EARNS HIM KRT SEAT: the Italian changes manufacturer

The Italian has spent his three WorldSBK campaigns on the Ducati Panigale V4 R, scoring six podiums so far although a first win still alludes him. He is currently fighting for fifth in the Championship standings and leads rival Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) by 11 points heading into the final round at Jerez. Until the KRT announcement, he was the highest-placed rider in the standings not signed up for 2024 but that changed when he was signed for the team as Yamaha-bound Rea’s replacement.

Speaking on Saturday at the ‘rollercoaster’ Portimao venue, both Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea spoke about Bassani’s arrival to the team. The #22, who will take on the position as de facto team leader as he enters his fifth campaign with KRT, discussed what the Italian will be able to bring to both the team and manufacturer after three years on Ducati machinery.

LOWES SAYS: “I’m hoping he can bring some of that knowledge and experience to the team”

Talking to the media after Race 1 in Portugal, Lowes said: “I’ll be the experienced guy on the Kawasaki, but Axel’s got a lot of experience. He’s done three seasons in WorldSBK. He’s not a rookie and he has good experience on a good bike. It’s not a factory bike, but he still has access to the electronics and data, and he’ll have so much knowledge of the guy that’s been winning, the benchmark in WorldSBK. It’ll be more important for him to bring that knowledge and try to give it. I’ve been riding the bike for four years. I know where I’m struggling but I’ve already been telling them my opinion. What’s really nice is when somebody from the outside arrives, especially when they’ve been riding one of the strongest packages. I’m hoping he can bring some of that knowledge and experience to the team because that’s what we need now.”

REA’S VIEW: “I saw him in the paddock, and I told him: ‘You’re going to have a fantastic group of guys’…

Bassani takes Rea’s place at KRT with the six-time World Champion leaving green and joining the Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK squad; a move made possible by Toprak Razgatlioglu’s move to the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team for 2024. Although he didn’t discuss what the #47 could bring to the team, he did reveal details about a conversation the pair had in the paddock after the news was announced.

Rea, like Lowes, was speaking to the media on Saturday at Portimao and said: “I found out one hour before when the team manager sent me a message. It’s a nice opportunity for him to have a factory team. I saw him in the paddock, and I told him: ‘You’re going to have a fantastic group of guys, they’re a really amazing team and people’. He has a job, for sure! He has to work hard, and I wish him the best of luck.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The sun is setting on the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season but there’s still one round remaining; in the last three rounds – which have been in four weeks – there have been an abundance of stories right the way through the order. We’ve put some of the key themes since we came back from the August break below, with them also serving as things to watch out for in the final round of the season.

TOPRAK’S TENACITY: a remarkable effort

It’s always been clear that Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) will never give up but Race 2 at Portimao elevated the meaning of that. He duelled with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) like we’ve never seen before, with some of the latest braking witnessed. It’s the race that everyone has been talking about for just how good Toprak Razgatlioglu was in combat and just how much he pushed himself, the bike and emptied the tank to try and topple the Championship leader. Resilient, relentless and irrepressible, the 2021 World Champion performed to the highest level.

BAUTISTA LIKE WINE: better with age and more impressive each round

As the reigning World Superbike Champion, Alvaro Bautista has already demonstrated that he can perform at an amazingly high and hard level late on in his career. The Spaniard, who is 38 years of age and will be 39 by the end of the year, is one of the last of his generation to come through the 125cc class and up through the 250cc Championship and then MotoGP™. The same era as Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner and whilst they were often ahead of him in MotoGP™, Bautista’s transition to WorldSBK has seen him become the best version of himself, with more understanding, different approach but still having a mindset to stay young in his training and keep adapting in his racing. As he said in the most recent Hot Headlines at Portimao: “The devil knows more for being old than for being the devil”, whilst in comparison to other rivals, he said Toprak was one of the toughest ever.

BMW COMPETITIVE WITH GERLOFF: a sign of a bright future

BMW may have struggled in recent years for consistency but one rider is doing the business; Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) has been fast since Donington Park but since Magny-Cours, he’s been getting the results to back it up. A pole in France, fighting well at Aragon – a track they struggle at – and taking a best of the year in P4, the American has been riding very well and is edging the manufacturer closer to the podium and doing so on merit. Toprak Razgatlioglu moves to BMW in 2024 and it’s going to be very interesting to see what he’ll be able to do if uptick in performance continues. Gerloff has great feel, a great team around him and is a good development rider and BMW are coming good, with some of it owed to him. He could still finish P8 overall in the standings.

REA ON THE LIMIT: Kawasaki’s shortfalls too big for Rea to make up?

A Sunday to forget at Portimao for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and an Aragon Round where he wasn’t able to make the difference, although he gave it an astonishing attempt in the Superpole Race. Rea is having to be so perfect to get the maximum out of his bike – which isn’t enough at every track – that mistakes are coming because to be on the limit like that for an entirety of a race is almost impossible. A small mistake at Turn 12 in the Superpole Race backs that thesis up from Aragon, when he just ran fractionally wide, giving Bautista the momentum to be closer by the time they got onto the back straight on the last lap. It may not have changed anything in the outcome but it looked like Rea had it sorted until then. The two mistakes at Portimao also come from each opportunity being critical. However, even WorldSBK’s GOAT can’t make miracles. We remain to see what Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) will bring to KRT when he arrives in 2024.

HONDA IMPROVE: what’s the key?

Honda have had a better last couple of rounds and we can perhaps expect them to continue that form at Jerez. So, why the improvement? Donington Park, Imola, Most and Magny-Cours are all extremely quirky tracks, where a rider’s experience can make the difference but where the setup of a bike has to be perfect. A set-up generally always has to be perfect but at tracks like Aragon and Portimao, which both have quirks to them but are much more ‘European’ or ‘Grand Prix’ in style seems to suit the Hondas better. Plenty of testing at the tracks for both Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) and his teammate Xavi Vierge will also help. Jerez is much the same. The Honda is competitive but some tracks make it seem worse than what is real.

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Can Oncu will be back on the FIM Supersport World Championship grid in 2024 with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing outfit after his stay with the team was confirmed to extend into a fifth campaign. Oncu claimed his first race win this year, but a serious injury sustained at Assen heavily disrupted his campaign but, despite this, he and the team remain committed to each other for a fifth season as they look to fight for podiums, wins and, perhaps, titles.

A DEBUT CAMPAIGN: learning the ropes of WorldSSP

Oncu came into WorldSSP as the youngest-ever Grand Prix winner after his stunning and unexpected 2018 Valencian Grand Prix victory as a wildcard, and he became the first rider to win on his Grand Prix debut since Noboru Ueda in 1991. He remained in Moto3™ in 2019 but the Turk could only score eight points and he moved to WorldSSP with Puccetti Kawasaki. The #61 was immediately a top ten contender and finished with 65 points to his name in 12^th, before improving to sixth in 2021 with two rostrums to his name: both coming at the Circuito San Juan Villicum.

CLOSING IN ON A RACE WIN: the long wait ends in 2023

The 20-year-old made a massive step forward in 2022 as he started challenging for podiums on a regular basis, taking eight in total as he finished third in the standings behind Champion Dominique Aegerter and runner-up Lorenzo Baldassarri. His wait for a win continued until the third race of 2023 when he finally took his first WorldSSP victory at Mandalika in Race 1, but his season would unravel when WorldSSP returned to Europe. In Race 2 at Assen, Oncu was taken out by former teammate Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) at Turn 1 with the Turkish star sustaining a left forearm fracture. He returned to action at Magny-Cours and scored points in Race 2 with 14^th, before taking 17^th twice at Aragon. A week later in Portugal, Oncu put his ZX-6R on the third row in the Tissot Superpole session but was unable to hold that position in either race, dropping back to 14^th and 15^th but still scoring points.

2024 PLANS CONFIRMED: Oncu stays put

Despite the injury-hit campaign, the team and Oncu have kept faith in each other and will stick together for next year with the Turkish star hoping he’ll be back to full fitness by the time 2024 rolls around. It’s a long-standing partnership that’s delivered one win, 13 podiums and a top-three finish in the Championship. All parties involved will be looking to build on this throughout next season.

ONCU SAYS: “Next year, nothing will stop us from giving it everything as I go all out to pursue my goal”

Vowing to bounce back in 2024, Oncu said about his renewal: “I’m really pleased to continue with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, a team that’s like a second family to me. Together with them, I’ve grown and achieved many of the goals we’ve set ourselves. This year we couldn’t obtain the desired results because of my injury, but next year nothing will stop us from giving it everything as I go all out to pursue my goal – to win the World Supersport title. I want to thank Manuel Puccetti and everyone at Kawasaki for the faith they continue to put in me. I’ll do all I can to repay them with the best possible results.”

THE TEAM VIEW: “We count on him being back in top shape next season; our goal will be to win the Championship.”

Team Manager Manuel Puccetti’s delight at keeping Oncu for 2024 was there for all to see. He said: “I’m pleased to continue developing Can Oncu as part of my team again in 2024. The plan that we made with his manager, Kenan Sofuoglu, is to help young riders mature and grow, just as we did in the past with Toprak Razgatlioglu, so that they can move up to World Superbike. Though still very young, Can has already shown that he has real talent and is a great professional. We were unable to score the expected results this year due to his injury, one he’s still recovering from, but we count on him being back in top shape next season, when our goal will be to win the Championship.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

With the news of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) jumping to the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team for 2024, one key question after that was whether current Crew Chief, Phil Marron, would follow him. That question has seemingly been answered on social media now with the Turk’s long-term right-hand man announcing that he would follow the #54 from Yamaha to the factory BMW squad for next year.

Marron and Razgatlioglu started working together in his second season in WorldSBK, when he was with Kawasaki Puccetti Racing in 2019. Marron, who had worked with the likes of Eugene Laverty previously, struck up an instant bond with Razgatlioglu and the pair took their working relationship to the Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK team in 2020 when they moved there, winning their first race with the Japanese brand at Phillip Island.

The pair have worked together at Yamaha since, with the undoubted highlight coming in 2021 when the Turkish superstar fended off Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) for the title, ending the Ulsterman’s run. Despite scoring 60 podiums out of 69 races in 2022 and 2023, the #54 relinquished his crown last year and, while he’s in mathematical contention for the 2023 title against Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), it looks like the #1 will take it this year with a 60-point advantage heading into the final round.

Razgatlioglu’s move to BMW was announced back in May but there had been no news on whether Marron would follow him to the German brand or stay with Yamaha. Pata Yamaha Team Principal, Paul Denning, said at Misano that Marron’s agreement with the team ended this year and would be “free to do what he wants”. Until today, there’d been no news on his future but an exchange on social media clarified where he’d be.

He was asked whether he was going to make the switch with Toprak, with Marron replying: “Yes I’m following Toprak.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The manufacturers’ title in the FIM Supersport World Championship was secured on Saturday at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as Ducati secured their first crown since returning to WorldSSP, and their first ever. The Italian brand ended Yamaha’s winning streak in style this year as the Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Racing outfit also won the Riders’ Championship with Nicolo Bulega taking the crown in his second season since his switch from the MotoGP™ paddock.

A NEW MANUFACTURER TASTES GLORY: Ducati become the fifth brand to win the manufacturers’ title

Ducati became the fifth manufacturer to have a team win the riders’ title as Bulega took the crown with the Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team this year. The #11 has won 14 races to date this year and has 19 podiums as he secured the title. They joined the likes of Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda to have a rider win the title, becoming the first European brand to win the WorldSSP title in the process. It was a historic day for Ducati as they celebrated multiple titles, including two Manufacturers’ Championships on the same day.

Not only did a Ducati rider secure the Riders’ Championship, but the Italian brand also joined an exclusive club of factories to win the Manufacturers’ Championship. Like with the Riders’ Championship, Ducati became the first factory from Europe to win the title as they joined Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda and Yamaha by celebrating their 2023 success. The next goal will be for Ducati to emulate Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki to retain their title next season.

THE FIRST NEXT GENERATION BIKE TO WIN: a milestone in WorldSSP

A new ruleset was introduced for 2022 to open up WorldSSP to more machines. Two manufacturers returned that year – Triumph, with the Street Triple RS 765, and Ducati with the Panigale V2 – while MV Agusta introduced the F3 800 RR. Triumph and MV Agusta were able to win last season before Ducati were on the top step this year. 15 wins in total (14 for Bulega, one for Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team)) helped Ducati to their first title and the first for a Next Generation bike, a big milestone in World Superport history.

ENDING YAMAHA’S STREAK: Ducati prevent seventh heaven for Yamaha

Yamaha had been the reference having won the title between 2017 and 2022. Lucas Mahias, Sandro Cortese, Randy Krummenacher, Andrea Locatelli, and Dominique Aegerter (twice) all claimed the title for Yamaha, and they were in contention throughout 2023 with Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) but Ducati were able to overhaul their rivals to end their streak at six. The Bologna-based manufacturer were also able to prevent Yamaha from edging closer to Honda’s record of eight consecutive titles, set between 2003 and 2010.

CELEBRATIONS ALL ROUND: a Saturday to remember

Not only did Ducati win the Manufacturers’ Championship in WorldSSP with Bulega’s Race 1 win on Saturday at Portimao, but Alvaro Bautista’s also (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) victory on the same day allowed the Italian brand to win the same title in WorldSBK. Bulega’s victory allowed the #11 to be crowned World Champion for the first time. Three titles were secured on a single day, a day that’ll live long in the memory for everyone at the Aruba.it Racing squad and Ducati Corse.

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Just days after completing the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve double, Mirko Gennai has more to celebrate. The Italian will remain in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship next year as he switches to MTM Kawasaki for a title challenge on the Kawasaki Ninja 400. He will be joined by 2023’s stand-out rookie, Loris Veneman, as the team keep some continuity heading into next season despite the departure of newly-crowned 2023 Champion Jeffrey Buis.

A NEW FACE FOR MTM: Gennai switches from BrCorse

Buis’ move to the Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing team was made public back in September as the Dutchman searches for more WorldSSP300 history. The team acted quickly to bring in his replacement, with Mirko Gennai switching from Team BrCorse for next season. The Italian has 60 WorldSSP300 races under his belt and finished third in this year’s Championship fight, behind only Buis and Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR). 

Gennai’s WorldSSP300 career started back in 2020 with a best result of 11^th coming in the final race of the season, one of only two-points scoring rides for the Firenze-born star. He was 30^th in the Championship but climbed all the way to 15^th in 2021 as he became a top-ten contender, taking a best result of sixth on two occasions. 2022 would be his breakthrough year as he took four podiums, including his first win at Portimao to end the season. A year later and he stood on the top step another three times, including twice at Portimao, with six rostrums to his name.

VENEMAN REMAINS: young Dutchman impressed in his rookie season

For 2024, the 20-year-old will jump on Kawasaki machinery for the first time in WorldSSP300, having spent his first four seasons with Team BrCorse. He’ll compete for the MTM Kawasaki squad, who have won four Teams’ Championships in a row since 2020 and three of the last four Riders’ Championships with Buis in 2020 and 2023 and Adrian Huertas in 2021. Gennai will be partnered with 17-year-old Veneman, who will stay at the team after a dream debut season: he finished eighth in the Championship, taking one win and a further podium as he adjusted to WorldSSP300 machinery after three seasons in the Northern Talent Cup.

IN GENNAI’S WORDS: “I felt it was time to change and start a new path the multiple World Champions…”

Discussing his move, Gennai said: “I’m extremely happy to start a new adventure in green. After four years, I felt it was time to change and start a new path with the multiple World Champions, MTM Kawasaki. I’m highly motivated to be in the best team of the category and for sure this will give me the extra motivation to start the Championship in the best way. I’ll give my 110% as usual and surely it will be a very competitive 2024.”

VENEMAN’S VIEW: “I have learnt a lot this year and want to improve for the next season”

Veneman, who finished as this year’s highest-placed rookie, added: “I am really happy to continue with MTM Kawasaki for the 2024 World Supersport 300 season on board the Kawasaki Ninja 400. I have learnt a lot this year and want to improve for the next season, working well with the team as we already did during this season. My target is to do a lot of training during the winter, racing also some races in other series when possible, in order to keep trained and try to give my best to be always on top in the World Championship. I have a very good feeling with the team, we are strong.”

VAN DER VEKEN SPEAKS: “Easy choice to confirm Loris… confident about Gennai, I’ve always loved his attitude”

Ludo van der Veken: MTM Kawasaki’s Team Manager, reflected on the 2024 line-up, saying: “I’m really happy to welcome back for one more season Loris Veneman and welcome Mirko Gennai into our team. It has been an easy choice to confirm Loris, we had a very strong rookie season together, we love to work with him, and we couldn’t be happier to continue this journey together. I feel he can improve a lot from this year, he’s young but already showed the right speed with one win and a podium and we want to go for more next year. I’m also very confident about Mirko Gennai. I’ve always loved his attitude and the way he races, he’s aggressive and he gives his 200% during the races, exactly the kind of rider I’m looking for my team. He is still young but has a lot of experience and I can’t wait to see him on our Kawasaki 400.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

It was one of the greatest MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship races in the 35-year history of the category and it was one of those special races which reminds everyone of why we all love motorcycle racing in the first place. Yamaha Motor Europe’s Road Racing Manager Andrea Dosoli couldn’t hide his emotions and he spoke of them after his latest round-up of the Pirelli Portuguese Round. Don’t forget, check out the reaction from the riders from their media debriefs here as well as watching the battle in full here.

Team bosses Paul Denning and Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Serafino Foti had already shared their thoughts on the titanic fight, which saw the two title contenders go head-to-head with an extraordinary display of determination. 35 passes, resistance and elbows-out action all came down to the final run to the line, when Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) beat Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). 

Speaking of the battle, Dosoli was in awe of the racing: “It has been a great weekend for Yamaha with three victories and several podiums spread between the three classes. The late September sunshine brought a bumper crowd to Portimao and they witnessed one of the best races in modern motorsport history. It has been impressive to see over 50,000 spectators really involved in the fight between Alvaro and Toprak. In general, the R1 worked well in Portimao, with a very good performance on ‘flying laps’ and over the long races. It was a fantastic result in the Superpole Race with three R1s in the top four positions. This was thanks to the bike’s characteristics, as well as the hard work done by the crews and especially by our riders.”

Talking directly about Razgatlioglu and Race 2, Dosoli wasn’t short of superlatives: “Toprak gave it all for the whole weekend, especially on Sunday and he should have no regrets. I feel that was the best riding we’ve ever seen from Toprak. He didn’t make any mistakes in any of the three races, he used the full potential of his R1 on every single lap, and he was clearly the best rider on the track. He missed out on the victory only due to the difficulties in sector four, mainly the corner speed and the acceleration out of it. Every single lap he succeeded in recovering the time lost in the last sector with an amazing performance in the other three sectors, every overtake was a masterclass! Race 2 was so intense for everybody and in parc ferme nobody could mask their emotions. Tears were seen on the faces of almost all the people in blue, rider included. We’ll never forget this race, for sure it was the best I’ve ever seen in my life.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The 2023 FIM Supersport World Championship was decided at Portimao this weekend but there was another title wrapped up too. Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) wrapped up the WorldSSP Challenge title for Kawasaki after a year that had plenty of highlights as he mixed it up with the full-time World Supersport riders. Despite Portimao being one of his worst results of the year, he fended off rival Tom Edwards (Yart-Yamaha WorldSSP Team) – who enjoyed two points-scoring finishes this weekend – and ultimately finished 30 points clear of the Australian in the Championship. 

Booth-Amos has been doubling up at times in 2023, also racing in British Supersport where he’s been a race winner. With all the track time, Booth-Amos has been able to showcase his abilities well, taking a first top ten of the season at Assen with P10 before three more came across the Donington Park and Imola weekends. A best result of P6 was taken by the British rider at his home round, something he picked out as a personal highlight. 

“Being Champion was the goal at the beginning of the season and to get it done is the main thing”, began the #69. “In the end, we were more interested in fighting hard in the main Championship. We realised we had good pace after the first race and obviously, it’s good for the team. It’s the first time they’ve won the title. For me, a highlight for the season was finishing sixth at Donington Park, this was the best race of the season.”

With the British ace leaving Kawasaki, he looked back on this period of his career with them and also dropped hints about 2024: “I’m a bit sad about leaving Kawasaki after four years; they’ve helped me out massively since starting in the WorldSBK paddock. That’s coming to an end but we all know that the Kawasaki isn’t the best bike to be on. I’m happy that I have more opportunities to move on and become part of another manufacturer. I’ll be 100% part of World Supersport next year.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) enjoyed his strongest MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship round to date despite a Race 2 technical problem at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Fourth in the Tissot Superpole Race gave him his best result in his rookie season during the Pirelli Portuguese Round and he looked to build on this in the final battle of the weekend, but the technical problem dropped him out of contention before the halfway stage.

Gardner enjoyed one of his best weekends of his rookie season in Portugal as he showed strong one-lap and race pace throughout. He was ninth in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session after setting a 1’40.207s although he did have a faster lap time of 1’39.764s deleted due to it being set under yellow flags. For the Race 1 grid, the Australian was promoted to eighth due to a penalty for Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). In the opening race of the weekend, the #87 gained two places as he finished sixth, just six tenths behind Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in fifth.

Things got better for Gardner in Sunday’s Tissot Superpole Race as he went from ninth – ‘Loka’ started from third this time – to claim a top-four finish, his best in WorldSBK. He gained three places on the opening lap – including as Lowes and teammate Jonathan Rea crashed at Turn 5 in separate incidents on the first lap – and was fifth until Lap 9. Then, he passed Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) to take fourth and finish just three seconds away from a maiden podium. This gave him a good platform for Race 2, but a technical issue forced him to retire when he was running in the top seven.

Discussing his weekend, Gardner said: “It had been really great, up until Race 2. I started ninth in the Superpole Race, and I knew we could have a good race. We had our lap time deleted in Superpole so I knew I could go forward. I had a really good last two laps, fighting it out with Michael and Iker. I managed to get a good fourth and I was quite happy with that. I used that as a springboard into Race 2 and I was into third for a bit, but I was honestly missing a little bit of pace when the tyre was newer. The guys did get away from me a little bit. I started getting back in my rhythm and started closing up on Iker quite a lot. I think I could’ve had a really good pace towards the end of the race but not even halfway through, we had a little bit of a technical problem and I had to retire from the race unfortunately. It’s an unfortunate away to end but a positive weekend overall.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com