It was looking like a much more positive weekend in Indonesia for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), with the Frenchman making gains on Saturday at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit and hoping for more on Sunday. Instead, a freak collision with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) saw Baz have his leg run over in the braking area for Turn 10, leaving him with a fractured fibula as well as a lot of damage to his ankle ligaments. We caught up with the Frenchman, who returned home, as he detailed his first thoughts on the incident, the long flight home, the chain reaction that caused it and the remarkable ambition to be back at the next round.

THE INJURY: instant thoughts, flying home and the surgery

“I felt straight away that there was something broken on the leg,” began Baz, at home after a first surgery. “Honestly, my first thought after the impact was checking if I still had the leg because the impact was so big, I thought my leg was off. It wasn’t nice but after that, the medical team did a great job. We saw the fracture of the fibula straight away, in the high part close to the knee. It was clear that there was some damage done to the ligaments of the ankle as they could see on the x-ray that there were more gaps in between the bones. I had a lot of pain, and the ankle was three times as big as normal. They told me that I needed surgery for the ankle for sure, but I decided to come back home and have the surgery there, as I have a great specialist. In 2016, I think I had 20 or 21 fractures in the foot after my Turn 1 crash at Mugello.

“I wanted to come back home, and it was a good choice; I saw him on Tuesday, as soon as I landed, and he did the surgery on Friday. He went inside the ankle with a camera to check all of the damage that could have been done. It’s not a fracture by the impact, it’s a fracture by the movement; when Alex hit me, the ankle went completely outside, so it’s like a strain but it went so much harder that the ligaments of the ankle are broken. I thought that maybe just one was broken, but it was all of them. The fibula will recover alone, but I’m not sure exactly what the surgeon did – he told me when I woke up, but I don’t remember! He told me there was more damage than first thought and that there’s work to do, but he’s happy with the job he did. I just need to be patient now.”

Talking about the journey home, Baz said it wasn’t nice but the pain wasn’t too bad: “Honestly, the journey wasn’t nice, but I am lucky that I was in a lot of pain for five minutes after the impact, but basically no more pain after that until I arrived home. If I moved, I could feel my fibula moving and cracking but if I didn’t move, then I didn’t have pain. After the surgery, I had a lot of pain because surgery on ligaments is kind of worse than any other bone. The worst thing is to do all the paperwork with the insurance, modifying flights, getting assistance but I am lucky that Eugene was there with me. Even though he’s used to that, it was his first time doing it in the other side. He called the insurance, my girlfriend and parents… it went pretty well. The journey was long because it was a 40-minute flight with an eight hour wait, then an eight-hour flight with another eight-hour wait and then an eight-hour flight again! As soon as I was in the airport, I had the assistance, but I just had to wait for eight hours… it was boring but OK! I was expecting to suffer much more on the way back.”

The Frenchman also recalled the importance of feet when racing and looked to countryman Jules Cluzel’s previous injury: “We really need our feet to ride a bike well, so you need to have a good surgery, you need to take care when you come back. I had some experience from Jules Cluzel, who had the bad injury on the left foot and then he was struggling a lot to ride after that.”

On the incident itself, Baz went through each detail, from a thin racing line to other factors, such as wind and more: “Everything can happen, but I think it was just a chain of events that caused the problem. The first is the condition of the track: you clean the track on one line as we’re all riding the same line, but when you need to overtake, you have to go on the dirtier part of the track, but you don’t want to be completely in the dirty part. So, you try and stay in the clean part as much as possible and you don’t have this margin. Also, for Alex, the wind brought him closer than usual and then if he’d gone more to the inside, then he’d have gone straight on or crashed. The level is also so high, so it is harder to make a move with a lot of margins. All those details together create a chain movement, and I was the unlucky one at the end of the chain.”

SEASON SO FAR: “We’ve made a step but not big enough, we’ll get there for sure”

“It’s been tough, but we’ve only had two rounds,” continued the 30-year-old. “I thought all winter that we need to go racing to see where we are. Phillip Island was really difficult; apart from Michael who was riding really well and had something more than us, no BMW was faster than the other one with three completely different setups. In Indonesia, honestly, I felt a bit better straight away and I felt a bit better on Saturday. We made a good step and then in Race 1, after a Superpole, I lost a lot of time at Turn 1 with Rinaldi’s incident, but I was able to come back closer to the top ten and with a lot of inputs, knowing where to improve. In Australia, we were really far off, and we didn’t know where to improve. On Sunday in Indonesia, both times when we had incidents, I was in the top six and it is somewhere I haven’t been since the first half of last year. 

“Everyone in BMW and in the team is working really hard and nobody gave up. You can see with Kawasaki, we’re not the only ones struggling, as Yamaha and Ducati are putting the level so high – especially Ducati. That’s good for the Championship as there’re faster bikes than last year and it’s so tight. It’s super easy to look stupid further down but you’re going faster than last year. The level is much denser. I feel the improvement and we’ve made a step, but we haven’t done a big enough step, but keep in mind that the winter was really short. I believe a lot in the project, and we’ll get there for sure.”

RECOVERY TIME: Assen likely, ligament healing crucial

Talking about recovery time, Baz has his sights on the next round, five weeks from now: “I don’t know exactly the time of recovery, but the target is to be back at Assen and as fit as I can. At the moment, I can’t do anything; I’m just sat on my sofa, with the leg up and with some ice. The goal is to be back at Assen as fit as possible, something that the surgeon also agreed on which is positive. For the first two weeks after the surgery, I can’t do anything as I need to have two weeks of being completely off, so that the job he did with the ligaments can start to work. Then, I’ll start the physio in ten days at the same place; the rehab centre is at the same place I have the surgery.

“I will miss the test but hopefully I can be back at Assen; I think it can be a good track for us, so we’ll see. I think that 95% I will be at Assen; I’m not sure which shape I will be, but it is five weeks from now – a lot and not a lot! I’ll have a bit less than three weeks when I start the rehab. I’ve had a lot of bone injuries and I know what to expect when you have a bone injury, but with ligaments, I don’t know as the most important thing is to get back the movement of the ankle. I have a good physio, so we’ll put in the work together.”

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The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is well underway with two rounds down and plenty of stories, records and intrigue already being discussed. In a season that’s bringing a topsy-turvy feel right from the off and with pre-season title contenders seemingly struggling, we debrief the opening two rounds and look at some key patterns and findings from Australia and Indonesia.

KAWASAKI STRUGGLE: a disaster in green to start 2023

Seven titles, over 100 wins, more than 300 podiums and a place firmly in the history books, Kawasaki have been the modern benchmark in World Superbike, but the start of 2023 has been a troubled one. Two podiums from six races, no wins in the opening six races for the first time since 2019 (when Jonathan Rea finished second in all opening six races) and no Kawasaki inside the top five in the Championship, it’s rather perplexing. The Japanese manufacturer brought an upgraded engine for this year, with it giving more power on the exit of corners. That step was visibly made at Phillip Island, with the Kawasakis able to stay in front of the Yamahas – even when they were with a slipstream. However, pace at the end of the race has been something Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes have struggled with, whilst they’ve also continued to be at a deficit in hot temperatures. It’ll be an important test at Aragon and Barcelona…

BAUTISTA VS TOPRAK: early form makes for interesting reading

With Jonathan Rea struggling, it’s been reigning World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who has been doing the lion’s share of the winning – five wins from the opening six, whilst 2022 title rival and 2021 World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) is the other winner. Whilst it was a slower start to the season for Toprak, he came back strong at Mandalika, although Bautista is still leading him in the Championship by 37 points. However, despite only winning one race, Razgatlioglu outscored Bautista in Indonesia: 52 points vs 50. Of course, we expect that Rea will come back into the fold and that others could be in with a shout, but could it be already that it’s a battle between Bautista and Razgatlioglu this year? And if so, who will triumph?

RISE OF THE TEAMMATES: pecking order rearranged, or the same when we return to Europe?

There have been some fantastic battles already in 2023 but one theme has been that the previously established ‘number ones’ within a team have been pushed hard in the opening part of the year. At Ducati, Bautista may have five wins from six but Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) step up in form has been clear for all to see. He really will be a force to be reckoned with when we get to circuits such as Barcelona and Misano. Then at Yamaha, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was second in the Championship after Australia and is third after Indonesia and just five points behind Razgatlioglu, whilst he’s also the only rider in the Championship to finish all races inside the top five. He’s had podiums at Assen in the last two years, is a win possible?

At Kawasaki, Alex Lowes has given Kawasaki their only dry podium of the year so far with third in the Superpole Race in Indonesia, whilst Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) bagged a first WorldSBK podium in Mandalika Race 2, outshining teammate Iker Lecuona across Mandalika and is just a point behind Rea in the standings. For BMW, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) has had the measure of teammate Scott Redding so far in 2023, giving BMW their only top six of the season so far, although Redding is ahead on points. Will this continue as Assen awaits, where results in the past have often been turned on their head?

STRONG ROOKIES: Petrucci and Aegerter shine, Gardner in the mix

It’s been a fine start to the 2023 season for Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), who ended the Barni team’s four year wait for a return to the top five with fifth at Mandalika in Race 1. He’s eighth in the Championship standings, although he’s yet to score points in the Tissot Superpole Race. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) had a solid first round with a front row start, and podium potential, and his late race pace – whilst he was concerned about it before the season started – has been strong. Teammate Remy Gardner has had a best of seventh but a wet debut, taking his teammate out in Australia and food poisoning in Indonesia have all made it a tough opening two rounds. Elsewhere, Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) scored his first points at Mandalika last time out whilst Eric Granado (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) chases his first.

STRONG STARTS, KEEP AN EYE: Bassani and Oettl with good pace

After podiums in his first two seasons of action, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) is enjoying his best start to a WorldSBK season with fourth overall in the standings, despite not achieving a rostrum just yet. The charismatic Italian has been a stand-out front runner and even a race leader already, but a best of fourth so far means he’s just missed the podium. Perhaps more of a surprise at round one was Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven), with the German continuing his form from pre-season testing and shining for a career-first top five in Australia. Just three points came during the Mandalika weekend but next up is Assen, a circuit where he showed strong potential last year.

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The world is celebrating International Women’s Day on March 8^th and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is no exception to this. To mark this day and to celebrate some of the incredible women who work within the paddock, Midori Moriwaki, Team Principal at the PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team discussed her career path to leading a WorldSBK team and how she is aiming to pave the way for the next generation to come through.

Moriwaki’s current role is Team Principal of the only satellite Honda team on the 2023 WorldSBK grid, running with riders Hafizh Syahrin and Eric Granado while the team have recently expanded into WorldSSP with the PETRONAS MIE MS Racing HONDA Team with Tarran Mackeznie and Adam Norrodin. Prior to that, she had been involved in the MotoGP™ paddock as well as with the Moriwaki Junior Cup.

Explaining her career path, Moriwaki said: “I am the third generation in a motorsport family. First is Yoshimura and second is Moriwaki which is my parents. My grandfather is Pops Yoshimura. I am the third generation. My background is engineering. I have worked in Australia and America and after that I had 21 years of working in Moriwaki engineering which is my parents’ company. I managed the MotoGP™ teams for Moriwaki and the Moto2™ project and the junior cup. Also, developing new technologies together with our engineers and also running a racing team. I have lots of academy projects and educational projects for engineering worldwide, especially in Asia and some other countries.”

One thing Moriwaki emphasises is her desire to help the next generation of women come through into the paddock, with the Team Principal giving advice to women looking to break into the motorsport industry and make a career for themselves. Expanding on this, she said: “This is not only for young women, but for any person. As a human, living in this life and this world is not only motorsport but the general world is not easy. Many critical things happen. To live this difficult life, or change your life to become positive, find a vision and then yourself. Not somebody else who makes it. Trust yourself and if you’re having a hard time, don’t push yourself too hard. Stay calm, wait a moment and then keep going. Life is like time. One second, one hour, one day, one year, two years… the time never stops which means life never stops. Don’t forget your vision or what you want to achieve. If you trust yourself, time will come and find away.

“I never think I am proud of myself because I just do what I believe. What I try to do is make a foundation for the next generation, not for myself. I have been in motorsport for a very long time, this year is 28 years, myself and the whole family is 70 years of history. We have seen good times and bad times in motorsport. The next generation is always key, not today. I see it for the future. I’m always looking at what I can do for motorsport and what legacy I can leave.”

The number of women in motorsport continues to grow and in vastly different roles, from press officers to mechanics, engineers and senior positions such as team principals. Moriwaki discussed whether she felt this is something that would continue in motorsport and also whether it would become easier for women to get into motorsport in whatever role they would pursue.

She said: “I think the presence of women in motorsport will continue to grow. There are a lot of women who are already making a good career. Young people can follow them who have already walked through. Like I did last year with the Moto3™ women’s team wildcard, Maria Herrera rode, and the team manager was an Italian girl, Aurora Angelucci. I supported her how to think and what you need to prepare, coaching her how to be the team principal and also what she needs to be targeting. I wanted to give my hands-on experience to women who want to be in this support. I think it’ll be much easier.”

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A four-year win drought ended for Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) in the FIM Supersport World Championship when he claimed victory in Race 2 during the Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. Caricasulo’s win did not come easy after he was involved in a last-lap fight in Indonesia as he took his first win since September 2019 when he at Portimao, while it was also his first win with Ducati machinery.

Caricasulo made a return to WorldSSP in 2021 although he moved around teams in that season as he searched for the best possible results. In 2022, he made the switch to Althea Racing as Ducati returned to the Championship and was competitive throughout the season, taking two pole positions and five podium finishes. He remained with the team for 2023 and the continuity paid off for both Caricasulo and Althea Racing with victory in Race 2 at Mandalika.

Italian rider Caricasulo was running in the podium places throughout the 18-lap race with Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), with Oncu leading the race from Lap 3 until Lap 13 when Manzi overtook him. It looked like Manzi would go on to take his first Yamaha win but Caricasulo got by Oncu on Lap 14 and closed the gap to Manzi over the final few laps. The race-winning overtake came on the final lap at Turn 10 as Caricasulo took his first win since 2019.

The win also meant Ducati equalled their best-ever WorldSSP season in terms of race victories with three this year, matching the total from 2000, with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) winning the first two races in Australia. Caricasulo’s win was his first in 68 races while he also took his 29^th podium, putting him level with 2017 Champion Lucas Mahias.

Reacting to his incredible victory, Caricasulo said: “I’m super happy because I think my team did a very good job with me and my bike. From Saturday, it was not easy to improve the bike because sometimes we can maybe be faster but also slower too. The bike was better on Sunday. My front tyre was better for the whole race. I was thinking only about riding and not managing the tyres. I’m really, really happy. It was really difficult because the temperature was super-hot. We had to push 100% for 18 laps so it was really, really difficult. In the end, it looked like I had a little bit more than Manzi in front of me. On the last lap, I tried, and it was okay and perfect for today.”

Caricasulo also discussed his battle with Manzi which went down to the final lap. Manzi had started from tenth on the grid but found his way to the front of the field before being overtaken by Caricasulo at Turn 10. Discussing the fight, Caricasulo said: “In the beginning of the race, I lost time in sector two in the fast corners. During the race, I learnt to be better in this sector. On the last lap, I gave my 100% in this sector to overtake Manzi there in the braking after. In the last two sectors, I felt stronger throughout the race. I overtook him and then I pushed during the last two sectors.”

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A stunning 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has just seen chapter two of the season signed into history, with ten rounds remaining. The Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit has provided more history as it welcomed WorldSBK action for a third season. From major milestones to bad form and plenty more, this week’s stats round-up reveals all.

397/128 – Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) became the 128^th rider in WorldSBK to achieve a podium with third in Race 2. He gave Honda a 397^th in their WorldSBK history.

110 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) gave Yamaha their 110^th win during the Tissot Superpole Race.

87 –Razgatlioglu took his 87^th podium in World Superbike after Race 2, level with Aaron Slight in eighth in the overall rankings.

60 – Alvaro Bautista took his 60^th podium with Ducati, now with the same as Troy Corser.

51 – Continuing his strongest start to a WorldSBK campaign, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) has 51 points. He is top Independent and for the first time in his career, is inside the top four in the standings.

47 – Ducati won at Mandalika for the first time in Race 1, making it the 47^th circuit they’ve won at.

34 – Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) gave Kawasaki their first dry weather podium of the year, the 34^th in his career. He’s now one behind Ruben Xaus, Michel Fabrizio and Eugene Laverty.

33 – Razgatlioglu took his 33^rd win in the Superpole Race, levelling with Troy Corser in seventh overall. Next up is Tom Sykes in sixth place with 34.

25/10 – Taking pole at Mandalika, it was a 25^th front row of his career for Toprak Razgatlioglu, making it three consecutive poles at the Indonesian circuit. It was also the 2021 World Champion’s tenth pole position, now level with Carlos Checa and Pierfrancesco Chili.

13 – 13 years after the last occurrence, Yamaha achieved a 1-2 in Superpole. It was Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland back in 2010 at Kyalami.

11 – With Razgatlioglu winning ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli in the Superpole Race, it was the 11^th Yamaha 1-2 in WorldSBK, the first since Donington Park Race 2 2021 – Razgatlioglu and Garrett Gerloff.

5 – Five races without a podium for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), his worst streak with Kawasaki and his worst streak since Donington Park Race 1 to Portimao Race 1, 2014.

3 – The Italian riders lock-out the podium in WorldSSP for the third time in history: in Race 2, Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) was ahead of Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team).

1 – The first race win in WorldSSP for Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), the fourth-youngest winner in WorldSSP after Andy Verdoia, Manuel Gonzalez and Yoann Tiberio.

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A new name stepped onto the top step of the FIM Supersport World Championship podium at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit with Turkish star Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claiming his first victory in the Championship in tricky conditions during Race 1 of the Motul Indonesian Round. It was Oncu’s 65^th race in WorldSSP when he claimed his first victory as he took his tally to 13 podiums in the Championship.

Race 1 in Indonesia was held in difficult conditions with a rain shower just before the start of the 18-lap race, but every rider opted to race on Pirelli’s slick tyres and, with the rain abating shortly after this proved to be the correct decision. Oncu started from third place but quickly leapt into the lead of the race on the opening lap and, by lap 5, his gap to the chasing pack had been extended to over a second as he took advantage of their squabbling behind him.

From that point, Oncu was able to manage his race while still extending the gap to the riders behind him as he claimed victory by more than three second at the end of the race ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) in second and Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) in third place. Oncu’s victory was the 44^th win for Turkey while he also became the fourth-youngest winner in the Championship, behind Andy Verdoia, Manuel Gonzalez and Yoann Tiberio.

An emotional Oncu, after Race 1, said: “I’m so happy and I don’t know what to say! Phillip Island was really difficult. We came here and on Friday we didn’t have good pace. We said we would just for it. Today, we did it. It’s incredible. I want to say thanks to Kenan. Before the race, after the race, and on Friday evening, he called me and said ‘Can, you have to do it!’. I’m so happy. Thanks to Kenan, thanks to Puccetti Racing, thanks to Kawasaki. I did it!

“In the first laps, I made a gap of one second and I tried to be consistent and not make mistakes. To be honest, I was not pushing over the limit because I was thinking that every time I did, I finished the tyre and this time I have to not finish it. During the whole race, I was not at 100%, I was at a normal pace. If I needed more, I could go a little faster. I was so comfortable with my bike. My dream was, every time, to win a race and I did it.”

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After two incredible rounds of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship have been completed following on from the Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit, only one rider has taken six top-five finishes out of six races so far in 2023. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) has three podiums and six top-five finishes to his name so far this season after a strong start to his 2023 campaign.

Locatelli ended the 2022 campaign on the front foot after some disappointing results over the middle part of the season, taking a podium at Mandalika last year and three top-five finishes at Phillip Island. He started 2023 in the same way in Australia as he took fourth in Race 1, fifth in the Tissot Superpole Race and his first podium of the season, with third, in Race 2. His results in Australia moved him into second in the Championship standings, the first time he had been in that position.

As WorldSBK headed to Mandalika for round two of 2023, Locatelli continued his fine form with third in Race 1 and second in the Tissot Superpole Race as he finished behind teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu. It marked the first time the pair had finished 1-2 for Pata Yamaha as they head into their third season together as teammates. Fifth in Race 2 meant he was unable to make it four podiums on the bounce but Locatelli’s three podiums in six races means he’s already surpassed his total from last season, while it is also the first time he has recorded three consecutive podium finishes in WorldSBK having finished on the podium from Australia Race 2 to the Superpole Race at Mandalika.

Reacting to his weekend, Locatelli said: “It was another great weekend and a really positive weekend because we got two podiums. Unfortunately, in Race 2, we lost this opportunity because I started further back after the red flag. In general, I’m really happy because we were fast. We showed our speed and we got a lot of good results. I think we need to be proud of myself and also for the team, because we worked really well during the weekend. The team gave me a really good bike to push with and stay at the front. Basically, we need to be happy because we worked really well and didn’t make a mistake. We need to look forward and try for a little bit more, and I need to learn things from this weekend and Phillip Island. It’s just the second round but we started in a really good way. We will see what happens during the season, but we are ready to fight.”

The Italian also looked back on his season as a whole after his strong start to the campaign, with Locatelli third in the standings and only five points behind teammate Razgatlioglu after two rounds. He said: “It was important. After the winter tests, we knew that we needed to try and start in a good way. I could never have imagined starting like this! When we saw that the opportunity was there to try and stay at the front every race, we tried to do this. We are really happy because we’re working really well. We were fast from Phillip Island and this is a great way to start the season. We need to learn something from Race 2. I went wide at Turn 12, so I lost a lot of positions and it put us further back. I think, in the end, it was a positive weekend.”

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The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has completed two rounds from 12 so far and already, there’re major stories and question marks. As is normal after each round, we’ve got our ears to the ground to get all the insight from the stars of the show, with new riders making a name for themselves as well as Championship contenders making bold claims in this week’s hot headlines.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK): “Jonny will come back very strong… we need to fight Ducati and I need him; I need some help”

Looking ahead to the next round after scoring more points than anyone else at Mandalika, Toprak Razgatlioglu assessed arch-rival Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) start to 2023: “I hope that this year at Assen, we are focused on the race with Jonny, and I hope that we don’t crash! We need a good position, especially Jonny. For Jonny, it’s not been an easy weekend and I think it’s a similar problem. His front tyre dropped a lot like in Race 1, but in the hot conditions, the Kawasaki doesn’t work well. Jonny is still very strong, and I believe he will come back very strong, especially at Assen. We’ll see, we need to fight Ducati and I need him; I need some help. Locatelli’s first two weekends are very strong and maybe we’re fighting Ducati together.”

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “I have the level to fight for the Championship, I’ll work so hard to do that with Honda”

Speaking after his first WorldSBK podium, Xavi Vierge was ecstatic on Sunday: “I have no words right now! We’ve fought so hard for this since the first day I jumped on the bike, but it hasn’t been easy. It looks like we’ve made a step forward; the reality is that I think we are getting closer, and I hope we can continue working in that direction to always be inside the top six. As a rider, you always need to think that you are the best; if not, you start off already losing. It’s true that in this world, it is easy to lose that if the results aren’t coming. Unfortunately, in my career, there are some really good moments but then followed by really bad moments, and I didn’t understand why. I tried to keep all the experience from all the years to then take the maximum. I think I have the level to fight for the Championship and I will work so hard to do that with Honda.”

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “If I was on my own, then I wouldn’t crash”

Still the Championship leader, Alvaro Bautista discussed his Turn 12 crash in the Superpole Race: “I entered to Turn 12, and Jonathan got the inside. Both of us wanted to go on the good line and then we both went off the line! I tried to pick up the bike and be smooth with the gas, but I just touched it a bit and then I lost the rear. Jonathan was the same! I think at another circuit, I wouldn’t crash. If I was on my own, then I wouldn’t crash, but it was a normal manoeuvre. The problem is that when you have a thin racing line and both of you want the same bit of track, it’s impossible. I don’t want to just let him pass, I wanted to stay! He wanted to stay, we touched a little bit, and I crash. It was a good overtake, aggressive but I didn’t crash because of that, I crashed because I was off the line.”

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “Very difficult weekend with not so many positives… I was riding over my head”

With just 13 points scored over the weekend, it was another tough weekend for Jonathan Rea: “It has been a very difficult weekend, with not so many positives. We, step-by-step, found a better direction. The track here in Mandalika has been quite inconsistent from Friday, when the grip level was really low, but we understood on race day that the grip level was incredibly high. So, we never nailed the setup perfectly, but I felt that we got better. In the races I felt my rhythm was OK but unfortunately in the Superpole Race I found some traffic in front. I am frustrated and I found it very difficult to pass anyone on acceleration or on the brakes. I was riding over my head sometimes on the brakes and in the corners trying to stay with the group.”

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team): “He ruined the race of Baz and for me…”

A strong weekend for rookie Danilo Petrucci, who outlined his podium target, but also aired thoughts on Alex Lowes, following the pair’s collision in the Superpole Race: “I’m really happy, I didn’t expect to be so fast, especially with the lap times. In Race 2, I didn’t change the tyre as I was feeling confident. I am happy for the team as now, we’re back in parc ferme. I said after Race 1 that I was happy but not completely satisfied as our target is to stand on the podium. I think we have this potential. In the Superpole Race, it’s like going bumper car racing! I don’t understand the behaviour of Lowes… in the first start, he ruined the race of Baz and for me, and then we had a red flag. I was in front and from the images and from race direction, they said that he made a mistake. He hit me from behind and destroyed my exhaust. It’s not OK to justify a mistake; it’s the first lap but you ruin a race of two other riders.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) “When I saw the red flag at 2.5s, I said ‘f**k’… I need to be smarter”

A great shame for Michael Ruben Rinaldi on Sunday as a podium went begging, but a clear step has been made by the Italian: “Since Friday, with a new front tyre, I do some laps and then it drops, and I can’t ride. This is what happened in Race 2. When I restarted the race, not everyone has a new tyre, so at the beginning, I felt OK with the bike, and I pushed and gained 1.5s. Then, I couldn’t push anymore as I had no grip; Alvaro arrived and passed me, so on the last lap, I just tried not to crash. On the exit of Turn 8, my bike shook a lot and I looked at the handlebar to try and control it but then I looked ahead, and I missed the braking point. It’s a shame. When I saw the red flag at 2.5s, I said ‘f**k’, because I knew the problem I’d face. When the race restarted, I felt good but in the last four laps, I didn’t have a card to play. The speed is there but we need to work a little bit better, and I need to not make mistakes; I need to be smarter.”

Andrea Locatelli: (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) “We didn’t need to do anything crazy; he tried and basically destroyed my race”

Third the Championship and the only rider to finish in the top five in every race this season, Andrea Locatelli spoke about Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in Race 2: “In the second restart, we started from P7. The problem was that in the first part of the race, after I overtook Toprak, Bassani took me out wide at Turn 12 and I lost a lot of positions. This was a bit wrong. We got two podiums though, so we need to be proud. I think he needs to be calmer as it was just the second lap. I was fast and I had a good feeling. I think he can try to stay behind me, follow me and then, we have 21 laps… it’s important to start well and I was in P1, and he was in P2. I thought we didn’t need to do anything crazy, but he tried and basically destroyed my race a little bit.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock descended on the stunning island of Lombok for the 2023 Motul Indonesian Round and the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit and it was a round that delivered more drama, more excitement and more twists and turns in the 2023 season. The Indonesian venue provided some stunning scenery as well as incredible action on track and this combination led to some incredible photos being taken. Check out the best photos from a dramatic round in Indonesia at the top of this article!

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Source: WorldSBK.com

As with every MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship round, there was drama throughout, and the Motul Indonesian Round was no exception at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. Crashes, first wins of 2023 and much more featured in Indonesia as the second round of the 2023 concluded and here we take a look at some of the ups and downs throughout the Indonesian Round, from the first-time winners in 2023, new podium finishers and struggles for some.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) kickstarted his title challenge with victory in the Tissot Superpole Race, while he was on the podium in both Race 1 and Race 2 as he closed the gap on Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the title fight and moved into second place in the Championship standings ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli. Razgatlioglu fought for the win in the early stages of Race 1 but dropped to second before responding in Sunday’s shortened Superpole Race and then taking second again in Race 2.

Race 2 also featured a new face on the podium in WorldSBK as Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) climbed onto the rostrum with third place, benefitting from an error from Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) on the final lap of the restarted race. Vierge became the 128^th rider to claim a podium in WorldSBK history with his third-place finish and it was also Honda’s first since teammate Iker Lecuona claimed third at Assen in 2022. Vierge’s podium means four manufacturers – Ducati, Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki – all stood on the podium for the first time since 2021.

Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) enjoyed his best WorldSBK round so far as he claimed his first top-five finish in Race 1 on Saturday and he backed that up with sixth place in Race 2, where he also claimed top Independent honours  Although he was tenth in the Superpole Race, it means Petrucci has record four-top ten finishes in his four full-length races so far in WorldSBK as he looks to fight for podiums and wins in his maiden campaign.

Despite a massive Race 2 crash, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) enjoyed a strong weekend. The Dutch rider claimed sixth in Race 1 and eighth in the Superpole Race after starting from tenth on the grid after he qualified as the fastest BMW rider. In Race 2, he was fighting to be in the top ten once again but had a huge highside coming out of Turn 11 which ended his race.

In terms of downs, it was another tough weekend for Kawasaki and riders Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes. Although Lowes scored their only podium of the weekend, he was involved in a Superpole Race crash with Petrucci and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). Later in the restarted Superpole Race, Lowes came together with Baz although Lowes could continue on his way to the podium. For Rea, he had an accident at Turn 2 in the Superpole Race which brought out the red flags while he also crashed at Turn 7 in Race 2. Also, in the Tissot Superpole session, Rea was given a three-place grid penalty for slow riding.

It was also a mixed weekend for Rinaldi during the weekend. He showed strong pace throughout but he was hampered by crashes at Turn 1 in Race 1, where he made contact with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and in Warm Up on Sunday morning. He was on course for second place in Race 2 but an error on the last lap meant he ran wide and dropped two positions to leave him in fourth place.

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Source: WorldSBK.com