A new face with a very familiar name stood on top of the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya during the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) followed up his first podium in Race 1 with his first victory in Race 2 to take his first win in WorldSSP and to return the famous Sofuoglu name to the top step of the WorldSSP podium, with his uncle, five-time WorldSSP Champion Kenan Sofuoglu, on-site to see another of his riders take victory.

Sofuoglu’s Catalunya Round started off successfully as he topped Free Practice 1 on Friday and he was tenth in Free Practice 2 but took third in the combined classification. His strong pace translated into his best Tissot Superpole result in WorldSSP as he took ninth on the grid; his first time starting a race in WorldSSP inside the first three rows. Despite starting from the third row, he was able to move into the lead fight early on in Race 1 and led his first laps in WorldSSP before dropping to third place, behind teammate Marcel Schroetter, to take his first WorldSSP podium.

Discussing his first podium, Sofuoglu said: “I started in ninth position and, at the start, I just tried to get in front. The target was the podium. In the beginning of the race, I saw I had more. In the last part of the race, I lost some grip and just tried to save my position. I said before the target was the podium, so I had some great battles with my teammate and Manzi and after those great battles, I got the podium. I’m very happy.”

In Race 2, the Turkish star once again hauled himself into contention in the lead group like he did in Race 1 but he led for more laps, 13 in Race 2 compared to two in Race 1, as he withstood a challenge from Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), and Sofuoglu and Manzi battled hard in Saturday’s Race 1, and teammate Schroetter to claim his first victory. Initially, Manzi had crossed the line in second but a penalty for Manzi dropped him behind Schroetter to give MV Agusta their first 1-2 finish since Phillip Island in 2015.

Reacting after his first victory, Sofuoglu said: “We had third position in Race 1, which was my first podium, and Kenan was here. He told me my mistakes and when I started Warm Up, I just tried to keep my pace. In the race, I tried to remember what Kenan said to me. We finished in first position, many years after Kenan who is a legend and he was always on top, winning many Championships. I’m very happy to put his surname on top again in WorldSSP. I wanted this so much but, for me, it’s come early! I didn’t expect it to come early like this. It’s a great step for me, the team and MV Agusta and I’m really happy. After Kenan, Can and now me finished in first place, I will try to keep this strong pace.”

The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is one Sofuoglu enjoys after he claimed victory there in 2021 when racing in WorldSSP300, and he also scored two top-seven positions at the Catalan venue as a rookie in WorldSSP last year. He became the third Turkish rider to win in the Championship, after Kenan Sofuoglu and Oncu, while it was also Turkey’s 100^th podium in the Championship. The country is fifth in the all-time list of podiums by nation, only five behind Great Britain in fourth.

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After four rounds of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, Tom Sykes and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing have announced their split after a difficult start to the season which did not yield the results either party desired. Only one point was scored in the 12 races so far with technical issues hampering their results throughout the season so far, with Sykes only finishing in half of the races run and scoring only a single point.

Sykes returned to WorldSBK and Kawasaki for the 2023 campaign after a year in the British Superbike championship, with Sykes reunited with the manufacturer he took his one WorldSBK title with back in 2013. His best result this season has been a 15^th place at Assen in Race 2, with the 2013 Champion not classified in six of the 12 races this season. After the difficult start to the season, Sykes and Kawasaki Puccetti Racing have agreed to part ways.

Discussing his departure from Puccetti Kawasaki, Sykes said: “I had no hesitation in joining the Kawasaki Puccetti team and helping them with the refinement of their Ninja ZX-10RR package. I hope all the data I helped them accumulate over testing and the first races of the season pushes them closer to winning races in the future.”

Team Principal Manuel Puccetti was full of praise for Sykes with the hope that his feedback can spur the team on even without Sykes on the bike. He said: “My team, staff and sponsors were honoured to have Tom join us to start the season. As a former World Champion and multiple race winner, his insight has really taken our understanding of the Ninja to the next level. Now he leaves us, and we thank him for all his knowledge and for sharing so much information.”

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The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s fourth round is in the history books and it was another stunning round from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With rivals clashing, old foes returning to battle and major milestones achieved, the media debriefs were busy on Sunday evening. 2024 talk, testing demands, unexpected struggles and in-depth race reflection all feature in this week’s hot headlines.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “We’re stronger than ever”

A second consecutive triple for Alvaro Bautista, who talks about the feeling of this moment in his career and how it’s different to his first year in Ducati: “I feel very good now and very strong. It’s what I said last year, that I feel in one of my best moments of my career. I still have this feeling. I like the training and preparation at home, not only physically and at the moment I love it, to be a better rider. I can keep racing. But I think one day, as a rider, I’ll think that I don’t want to do it continue, but for now, I love it. In 2019, I made mistakes and we made technical mistakes as the bike was also new, such as trying things that we kept in the wrong way. All together, lost the Championship, but now, we’re stronger than ever.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK): “I’m very happy for Bahattin… it gave me extra motivation”

Three second places for Toprak Razgatlioglu in Barcelona but a first win in WorldSSP for fellow countryman Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), praise was handed out from one #54 to the other: “I’m very happy for Bahattin and in Indonesia, I was very happy for Can. Also Deniz Oncu is very strong and we’re waiting for him as the others are winning! All of Kenan’s riders are very strong with wins and podiums. I hope one day that we are all World Champions one day in all the categories. In general, for Sunday, I am very happy for Bahattin and I think for me, it gave me extra motivation to be second in Race 2.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “I don’t know what happened to his brain… it’s a dirty move, he lost more than me”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s wasn’t happy with Axel Bassani on Saturday after their clash: “On the first flying lap, Axel tried to overtake me, and I was a little bit surprised because, during practice, he was pretty slow compared to the top group. Maybe he wanted to do some parts of the race in front. If you see his time at the end of the race, it’s pretty bad compared to the top. Because he’s an Independent rider and I’m a factory rider, he has more fight to overtake me. I re-overtook him and when I did that, there was room. We touched, it was a hard overtake from me, but clean. That means the rider doesn’t lose time, the rider doesn’t crash, and the rider doesn’t go to the green. I don’t know what happened to his brain because, after I overtook him, I rode well. He ran into me on purpose because you can do this if you think ‘I want to make him crash’. He made me crash. There was no space. It’s not a place you can overtake, and you don’t think there’s someone on the outside. He knows what he did. I fell on the ground. He didn’t have the face to come and say sorry which makes him even worse. We see many times with Toprak, Alvaro and Jonny touch each other but they never do this. It’s a dirty move. I think he lost more than me.”

Speaking on Sunday, Rinaldi reviewed his weekend: “It’s been one of the toughest weekends; after Free Practice and you have expectations but then, in Race 1, you crash after two laps and then the rain comes in the Superpole Race, you say ‘why always me?’, but you have to face it like a professional rider. I can be quite happy about how we faced the two hard punches in the face after Race 1 and the Superpole Race. I had no card to play against Toprak.”

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing): “Michael’s a normal rider like the rest of the grid; if he has a problem with me, he can come to my box and we can speak”

On the other side, Axel Bassani finished P7 after the Race 1 clash, and he had a different view: “He tried to overtake me and touched me. After, I tried to overtake him to stay in second position. I think we had the potential to be on the podium. We touched; I think it’s a normal racing incident. Sometimes it happens. I had my penalty and I finished in seventh position, so I think it’s okay. I saw the possibility to make an overtake so I went in. He tried to close the door to defend his position. I think it’s a normal contact in racing. I repeat, I had penalty, I did it, that’s it. He made the same overtake in Turn 3, this is racing. Every rider tries to put in 100% every lap and tries to defend their position. He tried to defend his position in Turn 3, and I tried to at Turn 10. I think it’s a normal contact. I don’t have problems with Michael. For me, he’s a normal rider like the rest of the grid. If he has a problem with me, he can come to my box and we can speak.”

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “It’s encouraging that Alex had a great race”

A costly Superpole Race error on the final lap meant Race 2 was a long road to recover for Jonathan Rea: “I touched the white line; when Toprak came by, I felt quite close and I wasn’t aiming at the corner. He gave me space but at 320km/h, with the wind buffeting, it knocked me around a little bit, hit the white line and it was enough to put me down. It’s really frustrating as it was a complete knock-on effect for Race 2. I had to clear traffic at the beginning; the Hondas in the first laps were buzzing around. I was attacking them, they were attacking me; then Locatelli was really good, in the final sector he was much faster than me and better getting onto the straight. Everywhere else, I was able to catch him but in doing that, I was abusing my tyre. When I had clear track to Alex and Toprak, I thought the race would come to me but they kept going. I totally burnt too much tyre in the early laps. We made a small change from Saturday and finished the race with a lot more rubber in Race 1, so the small modification to use more tyre wasn’t the right direction. Although it’s frustrating that I couldn’t catch them, it’s encouraging that Alex had a great race. It’s a very tough track for tyres and we were able to compete for podiums. It’s not the weekend we dreamed but it was better than expectations on Friday.”

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK): “We need to test when the track is at 50 degrees”

With a test at Misano looming large, Alex Lowes isn’t expecting the conditions to be ideal for improving the ZX-10RR’s weak points: “I was looking at the weather for the test and it looks like it could be wet; I don’t need to practice in the wet, I’m pretty good. If it’s not wet, then it will only be maximum 17 degrees, so we’ll go out, keep the bike the same and be as fast as anyone. When we have grip, the bike looks unbelievable and you can’t complain about it. We need to test when the track is at 50 degrees, because then we see that we really struggle. Then, you need to understand how to improve it. The real issue is that we never really test at those temperatures; in the winter, it’s never warm enough and everything works amazingly. We bring new stuff for the bike and if it doesn’t improve the bike, we’ll go back to the base setting. But maybe, if the track was 50 degrees, the new things we have to try could be a lot better.”

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK): “The feeling is try to continue with Yamaha”

Talking about 2024, Andrea Locatelli is calm so far: “Honestly, I am so happy in Yamaha; when I came here in the first year in 2021, we learnt and improved in every race. I signed for two more years until 2023 as I loved the project and Yamaha were interested to help me and believe in me. In this moment, I am happy about my bike. For sure, we need to improve a little bit on the power but in the end, the balance is not so bad and we’re always working to improve the bike. In every race, we see that one manufacturer has an opportunity. In this time of my career, I am young enough to learn a lot and my target is to win or at least fight for wins and podiums. Honda is a good bike, Kawasaki too, they can improve but we can improve our bike too. The feeling is try to continue with Yamaha.”

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC): “We struggled more than expected… we came home with a top six”

After much hope for Honda, Barcelona wasn’t the perfect homecoming for Xavi Vierge, but a top six on Sunday was strong: “Finally, Race 2 has been good for us and we can show our potential. We expected more from the weekend, but we struggled more than we expected. Also, on Saturday, we had red flags which made our day more difficult and in Superpole, we didn’t react in the best way, and also in Race 1. Anyway, we did a good job and made changes for Sunday to give me more room to push. I think it’s been a solid Sunday and we came home with a top six. Our situation is that we have some potential, but our window is quite small. So, it depends on the track, grip levels and weather. At the test, the grip was amazing, and everyone went so fast and straight to the 1’41s. This weekend, the grip was much lower and we struggled more than testing.”

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With the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship now officially a third of the way through the season, patterns are now forming up and down the grid. However, the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round was a monumental weekend of action and that is reflected in the stats, as historic names are matched by current greats, whilst a major milestone was just missed by the most successful WorldSBK rider of all-time on Sunday.

400 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) took Yamaha’s 400^th podium in Barcelona during Race 2. With three podiums on Sunday, they are now three ahead of Honda and third overall behind Ducati (1036) and Kawasaki (528).

249 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took a 249^th career podium in Race 1, whilst he crashed out of third on the final lap of the Superpole Race, missing a chance to take his 250^th – he would have been the first rider to achieve it. He was fifth in Race 2. It was also the 860^th podium for the UK.

150 – Razgatlioglu’s second place in Race 2 was his 150^th points-scoring race.

110 – Rea’s third place on the grid saw him qualify for the front row for the 110^th time.

80 – Alvaro Bautista gave Spain an 80^th victory in World Superbike in Race 2.

100/45 – With Bahattin Sofuoglu winning ahead of teammate Marcel Schroetter in WorldSSP, it was Turkey’s 45^th in the class, their 100^th podium and MV Agusta’s first 1-2 in the class since Phillip Island 2015, when Jules Cluzel won ahead of Lorenzo Zanetti.

43 – 43 wins in WorldSBK for Alvaro Bautista, the same as Noriyuki Haga.

40 – Bautista and Razgatlioglu share a podium for the 40^th time.

31 – An all-time record was equalled in Race 1, when Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Rea shared a podium for the 31^st time, the same as Rea, Davies and Sykes.

20 – Bautista’s pole in Barcelona was the 20^th for Spain, but just the third on home turf. The other two home poles courtesy of Bautista, one at Aragon in 2019 and the other in Barcelona last year. It was Bautista’s seventh pole, which means he is 20^th in the all-time pole rankings.

17 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took a 17^th career podium, equalling with Ben Bostrom and Ben Spies in the 39^th place in the all-time rankings.

11 – 11 wins from the opening 12 races for Bautista in 2023, the third time this has happened in WorldSBK history. The first time was Neil Hodgson in 2003, and the second was Bautista himself in his rookie 2019 year, when he won the first 11.

4 – Bautista became the fourth different polesitter in WorldSBK at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in as many years: Rea in 2020 (Kawasaki), Sykes in 2021 (BMW) and Lecuona in 2022 (Honda). That also means that Ducati become the fourth different manufacturer too.

4 – No pole position for Jonathan Rea in the opening four rounds of a season for the first time since 2016; he had to wait until Round 11 at Magny-Cours that year.

3 – Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) became the third rider to achieve a Tissot Superpole Race podium from outside the top nine places on the grid, coming through from 10th. The other occasions were Jonathan Rea at Aragon in 2019, coming from 10^th to finish in P2 and Toprak Razgatlioglu coming from 16^th to win at Magny-Cours the same year.

2 – For the first time in WorldSSP300, an Italian 1-2: Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) won ahead of Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha).

0 – For the first time in his WorldSBK career, Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) failed to score points.

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With the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship descending on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the 2023 Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round, now is the chance to look back on just some of the incredible pictures captured during the weekend. After an incredible weekend of action across three classes, some epic photos were taken in Spain and you can see the best of them in the gallery at the top of this article. Even more stunning photos from WorldSBK in Barcelona can be found by clicking HERE.

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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was a mixed affair for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) during the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round. He was able to fight for a podium in Race 1 but Sunday proved to be more challenging after a Tissot Superpole Race crash dropped him down the grid for Race 2 where he was able to fight back to fifth place from tenth.

Rea took a front row start for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race after posting a best lap time of 1’40.761s, some half-a-second down on polesitter Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). While Bautista was able to take victory, Rea battled Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) for second place. The pair were separated by just a tenth of a second at the end of the 17-lap shortened race.

On Sunday, the pair were battling again on Sunday in the Tissot Superpole Race with Rea leading Razgatlioglu heading onto the final lap. Razgatlioglu used the slipstream to pass Rea on the brakes heading into Turn 1 but Rea, on the outside of his rival, touched the white line which was slippery due to spots of rain falling in the closing stages of the race, with Rea coming off his bike and retiring from the race. This meant he started Race 2 from tenth place and he was able to battle back to fifth, finishing behind teammate Alex Lowes who had a strong Race 2 after a difficult weekend up to then.

Discussing his Sunday and explaining the crash, Rea said: “It was unfortunate because that set the tone for Race 2. I felt like I did everything right in that race. I was biding my time. It was tough conditions for everybody with some spots of rain. Toprak planned his strategy perfectly. He used the slipstream down the home straight on the last lap and just as he was alongside, the wind effect and also the trajectory he was coming, I was giving him more space and touched the white line for nothing. Frustrated but it happens sometimes. Then, starting from P10, I had to be quick in action and gain track position. In doing so, I just used a lot of tyres in the beginning trying to plan my passes; especially on Locatelli. It was quite hard; he was very good in the last sector and onto the home straight. For me, everywhere else, I was just trying to get close enough and then, of course, he dropped his rhythm and I was able to go through. At that stage, Toprak and Alex were just there, and I thought ‘don’t waste anymore and I will arrive at the end’ but the offset of the tyres, they were in the same boat as me but further up the road. They had a really good race. My target was Alex and Toprak and, in the end, I had nothing left for those guys.”

It had been a difficult start to the 2023 campaign in Australia and Indonesia with only one dry-race podium to their name, coming from Lowes in the Superpole Race; Rea was on the rostrum in a wet Race 1 at Phillip Island. However, since returning to Europe, Rea has become a consistent podium challenger with two podiums in three races at Assen and one in Barcelona. Despite only taking one podium in Barcelona, Rea was in the hunt for one in the Superpole Race and he potentially could’ve fought for one in Race 2 had he started from the front row rather than tenth place following his crash.

Talking about the progress made from the start of the season until now, and what more needs to be done, Rea said: “I think we just need to do great work every weekend, put all the stars in line from a team point of view to battle for the podium. We’re so far off battling for a race win. We know what needs to be done, the team knows what needs to be done but it’s not something we can react to right now. This is our situation. I push the team on a daily basis at the track, at tests but it’s somethings very frustrating especially when you’re riding with some other bikes on track. It really highlights our difficulties. We’ll never give up. The team are working so hard on what we can control and, of course, with me being competitive, I’ve had quite a few second places this year, but what’s more encouraging was Alex’s great result. It shows that when things are going well, at a track that consumes a lot of tyre, KRT can still be strong.”

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With the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s latest visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya done and in the history books, it’s time to look at the ups and downs from the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round. The weekend belonged to one rider after setting a lap record in the Tissot Superpole session and winning three races out of three, a manufacturer reached a milestone of WorldSBK podiums but there were some downs too including crashes for rivals in Spain.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) extended his Championship lead to 69 points over Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) after his hat-trick in Barcelona, the second consecutive year he’s won all three races at the Catalan venue. He also broke the lap record on his way to pole position on Saturday as he capped off a perfect weekend on home soil. 11 wins in the first 12 races of 2023 is a record matched only by Neil Hodgson in 2003 and Bautista’s own run in the 2019 campaign.

Yamaha entered the Catalunya Round on 396 WorldSBK podiums and, with the Japanese manufacturer averaging four podiums a round in 2023 with riders Razgatlioglu and teammate Andrea Locatelli, seemed set to reach the 400 podiums milestone. They duly did so in Race 2 after Razgatlioglu claimed three second place finishes in Spain, while Locatelli continued his impressive start to the season with a late surge to third in the Superpole Race. With their podiums from Spain, Yamaha overtook Honda in the all-time WorldSBK list with Honda on 397 podiums.

It was a strong weekend for American star Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) as he consistently finished as the top BMW rider at a circuit he has gone well at in the past. He took ninth in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole to secure his best starting position since switching from Yamaha to BMW and he was able to convert this into three top-nine finishes: ninth in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race and seventh in Race 2. He was the top BMW in all three races as well as in Saturday’s Superpole.

In terms of downs in Spain, there were a few. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) battled to a podium in Race 1 and he was fighting for another rostrum visit in the Superpole Race. However, when fighting with Razgatlioglu into Turn 1, he just touched the white line which was damp after some rain fell in the ten-lap race, with Rea crashing out of the race from the podium battle. This meant he had to start Race 2 from tenth place, and he was able to battle his way up to fifth place by the end of Race 2.

The Catalunya Round proved to be difficult for Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) too. The Italian rider could only manage 14^th in Superpole on Saturday but he took advantage of two starts, one after a red flag, to haul himself into podium contention in the early stages of Race 1. There, he battled with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) with the factory Ducati rider forcing his way through at Turn 3 before the pair made contact at Turn 11 later on that same lap. Bassani was given a Long Lap Penalty for his role in the collision. On Sunday, he could only manage tenth in the Superpole Race and 11^th in Race 2.

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The Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round was a dramatic affair as round four of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship painted the latest picture in the title race. One rider who didn’t feature too strongly at the front however was Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), with the British rider struggling down field. Scrapping it out for points, it was far from an ideal weekend for the British rider, as attention turns to his future.

In what was a relatively difficult round, the BMW M1000 RR has never been a bike to challenge for a top five at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but Redding couldn’t have predicted the battle he’d face this weekend. A Superpole result that left him mired on the fifth row of the grid in 13^th was compounded further when he was given a three-place demotion for Race 1 for riding slowly on the racing line. However, the weekend that followed would be fruitless, as he didn’t score a single point in any race – the first time that has happened in his WorldSBK career. Retiring from both full races and just 12^th in the Tissot Superpole Race, it really was an uphill struggle from the start.

Speaking about Sunday, Redding did what he could to put himself in a good position, but tyre life was a major factor: “Basically I used too much tyre, but I’ve been struggling all weekend to be honest. In Race 2, I decided to push as hard as I could and see how long I could stay there. I stayed at the back of the train but I was pushing a lot and pushing the front. I didn’t have good speed in the race in the straight as I couldn’t get out the corners, so I was forcing the front and it started to slide a lot more. Then, the rear started to drop and it dropped so much that it became dangerous to ride. I was tipping in and even on entry without the throttle, the bike was sliding and I had no support. I did three or four laps and it was getting worse and worse; I was already outside the points and I just thought that it’s not worth the risk.”

With attention turning to his future, Redding said that he will be evaluating all offers: “I have to consider my options and see what’s available. I have to see what we can do for BMW in the future if I am to stay there. I want to be fighting at the front for podiums and winning races but last year and this year, it’s not showing anything in that direction. It’s hard for me to wait; I know the guys are working hard. There’s a lot happening back at BMW but finding a solution is proving difficult. We will see, but there aren’t a lot of other doors open so we need to keep our head down and try to improve the package. When you go testing, you might have an item and it changes everything, but at the moment, we have a lot of items but not a lot improvement. It’s part of the game.”

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The battle for second place in Race 2 of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya went down to the wire during the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) fought it out. Rinaldi was ahead at the start of the final lap but Razgatlioglu was able to make up three seconds across the final three laps to snatch second place.

Rinaldi had surged up the order from eighth on the grid to be running behind teammate Alvaro Bautista, but the reigning Champion was able to pull away from Rinaldi as the race progressed. Rinaldi himself had looked like he was able to pull away from the chasing pack behind him, which was led by Razgatlioglu, but he dropped back towards the 2021 Champion in the final few laps and lost second position on the run to the line.

At the end of Lap 17, Rinaldi was almost three second clear of Razgatlioglu with just a couple of laps to go and this gap was maintained at the end of Lap 18. However, by the end of Lap 19, Razgatlioglu had pulled in a second with a lap time of a 1’44.029s, compared to Rinaldi’s 1’45.144s and, on Lap 20, the difference was even greater between their lap times. Razgatlioglu set a 1’43.711s while Rinaldi could only manage a 1’45.607s as Razgatlioglu pipped him through the final corner and on the run to the line.

Discussing the podium fight, Rinaldi said: “Toughest weekend of the year as from Friday, I had the speed to fight for the podium. Yesterday, what happened, happened, and then in the Superpole Race, I fought for the podium and then the rain came. In Race 2, I was second, but I finished the tyre and couldn’t stand up! I almost crashed in every right corner and that’s why Toprak had the opportunity to catch me and pass me. It’s OK, as yesterday I didn’t race, and I didn’t have the experience of the tyre or its drop. I didn’t have the strength in my hand to defend at the end of the race. It’s OK to finish with a podium after all the ups and downs.”

Razgatlioglu is now on a run of nine consecutive podiums and has 11 rostrum visits from 12 races in WorldSBK, but he only has one win to his name which came in the Tissot Superpole Race at Mandalika. He sits 69 points back from Bautista in the Championship standings and he has a 34-point advantage over his teammate, Andrea Locatelli, who sits in third.

Discussing his second place finish, Razgatlioglu said: “I’m really happy. I was waiting until the last laps for Michael’s tyres to drop, but I’m surprised. I understand his tyres, in the last two laps, had a big drop. Normally, I’m waiting for the last three laps because I kept the rear tyre. Finally, I see him have a big drop. I’m pushing and I take second position at the last corner. Not like Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, I tried a different style! I took second position, and this is very good for me as I took three second positions and I took really good points for the Championship.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The final race of the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round, Race 2 in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship, was a traditionally unpredictable affair at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with only 0.027s separating the top two at the end of the 12-lap race. The race was won by Italy’s Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) after a thrilling last-lap fight with compatriot Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) in Barcelona.

MAKING HISTORY: Italians lead the way in WorldSSP300

Gennai hit the head of the field on the final lap but Race 1 winner Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) overtook him into Turn 7, before the trio of Gennai, Buis and Vannucci went side-by-side into Turn 10. Gennai and Vannucci came out side by side heading into the penultimate corner before the pair engaged in a race to the line on the final lap of the race, with Buis backing up his Race 1 victory with a second podium of the season.

Gennai leading Vannucci meant Italy claimed their first 1-2 in WorldSSP300 as Gennai claimed his second victory in the Championship as well as his sixth podium. Vannucci now has five podiums to his name in WorldSSP300 while 2020 Champion Buis has 15 podiums in his career in WorldSSP300, putting him second in the all-time list.

NOTHING IN IT: little to separate the top six

Home hero Daniel Mogeda (Kawasaki GP Project) crossed the line in fourth spot as he enjoyed a strong home round and he was just 0.047s ahead of Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) as he finished in fifth place. However, Mogeda was given a post-race penalty to drop one position for irresponsible riding, promoting Perez Gonzalez to fourth. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) was sixth after he led the race around the halfway stage of the 12-lap race with just 0.578s separating the top six riders after 12 laps of racing.

TEN RIDERS, EIGHT TENTHS: Championship leader in P10

Two Brazilian riders finished in seventh and eighth with Enzo Valentim (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) and teammate Humberto Maier finishing just 0.071s behind his teammate; Maier had started from pole position. Jose Manuel Osuna Saez (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) finished in ninth place ahead of Championship leader Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) rounding out the top ten with Svoboda just 0.797s away from Gennai.

TAKING HOME POINTS: finishing Race 2 in the top 15

Indonesia’s Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) scored a second points finish in his first round back in the Championship as he took 11^th place, ahead of local rider Julio Garcia (Team Flembbo – PI Performances) in 12^th place. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) took 13^th place ahead of Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) in 14^thplace. Seabright had crossed the line in 13^th but was demoted one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap.Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) who rounded out the points with 15^th.

HOUSEKEEPING: to note from WorldSSP300 Race 2

Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) had a difficult race after being given two Long Lap Penalties during the race, before crashing out on Lap 6 at Turn 11. The first was given to him for irresponsible riding while the second was for irresponsible riding during his first Long Lap Penalty. He brought his bike into the pitlane following his crash. He was classified but four laps down on the leader.

Juan Pablo Uriostegui (Team#109 Kawasaki) crashed out of the race on Lap 8 at Turn 4. At the end of Lap 8, Gabriele Mastroluca (Arco Motor University Team) brought his bike into the pits and retired from the race. Shortly after Mastroluca retired, the other two Arco Motor University Team riders crashed with Ruben Bijman continuing, and then retiring shortly after, but Unai Calatayud retiring. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards.

Alessandro Zanca (Team#109 Kawasaki) had to serve a ride-through penalty during the race which he took on Lap 2, dropping him down the order and he eventually finished in 24^th place. Devis Bergamini (ProGP Racing) was given a double Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in Warm Up and he finished in 22^nd place, while Mattia Martella (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) also had a double Long Lap Penalty for irresponsible riding in Race 1.

Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo – PI Performances) did not race after he was injured in a crash in Race 1, with the Italian declared unfit following the crash.

The top six following WorldSSP300 Race 2, full results here:

1. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse)

2. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) +0.027s

3. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) +0.183s

4. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) +0.332s

5. Daniel Mogeda (Kawasaki GP Project) +0.400s

6. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) +0.578s

Fastest lap: Samuel Di Sora (Kawasaki) – 1’55.821s

Championship standings

1. Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) 69 points

2. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) 57

3. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) 50

4. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) 49

5. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) 49

6. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) 46

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Source: WorldSBK.com