Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea ended his win drought by being one of the first leading riders to pit in a wet-to-dry Phillip Island classic during Race One. During Race Two, Champion Alvaro Bautista took his 16th win of the season in a shortened race that ended the season. Report: Dorna/WorldSBK

Race One
The first race in Australia for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for almost three years was an instant classic in a wet-to-dry flag-to-flag race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) claimed victory after being one of the first leading riders to pit as the conditions improved at the circuit throughout the 22-lap race. Rea’s race win ended his victory drought which had been brewing since the Estoril Round in May.

Rea was one of the first leading riders to pit when he changed from wet tyres to slicks on Lap 10, along with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), and came out in fourth place in the overall race but in the net led with the riders ahead not pitting. The race winning overtake came on Lap 15 when he overtook Kyle Smith (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) around the outside of the Turn 4 hairpin; Smith opted not to pit during the race as he took a gamble to stick with wet tyres.

It had been a lead group of four riders in the wet conditions with Rea, Razgatlioglu, polesitter Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Lowes had been leading when the first riders started pitting but opted to be the last of the riders from the lead group to pit, dropping him down to fourth place before he passed Bautista in the closing stages to take third place, behind Razgatlioglu; whose pit stop on the same lap as Rea moved him into second place. Bautista pitted on Lap 11 of 22, just one lap later than Rea and Razgatlioglu, while Lowes pitted on Lap 12.

Rea’s victory gave him his first win in 181 days and 24 races as well as moving him on to 118 wins in WorldSBK; double the number of Carl Fogarty who is second in the all-time list. He also became the first rider to have a winning career spanning more than 13 years. Razgatlioglu claimed his 81st podium, and the 28th of his 2022 campaign, while Lowes took his 32nd podium with third place despite losing time in the pit stops.

Fourth place went to Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) after he had another strong result, with the Italian passing Bautista in the closing stages shortly after Lowes had. Lowes’ move on Bautista came on Lap 17 when he went around the outside of Turn 9 to move into the podium places. However, the results of the race mean Ducati secured the 2022 Manufacturers’ Championship, the 18th time for them in WorldSBK. The best Independent rider for Race 1 went to Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in sixth spot as he pitted on the same lap as Bautista.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) just missed out on the top Independent honours by 1.406s to Gerloff as he took seventh spot, finishing ahead of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) in eighth spot who was 5.5 seconds down on Bassani. Despite finishing behind Gerloff, Bassani’s seventh place ensured Motocorsa Racing took the top Independent Teams’ title for 2022. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was the lead BMW rider in ninth spot and ensured all five manufacturers were in the top ten, while stand in rider Tetsuta Nagashima (Team HRC) rounded out the top ten in his first WorldSBK race as he replaces the injured Iker Lecuona.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took 11th spot and his results helped the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati squad secure the Teams’ Championship for the first time since 2020, finishing ahead of Smith. Despite Smith leading at the end of Lap 14 after opting to stick with his wet tyres on a constantly drying track, he rapidly dropped back down the order but took 12th place for his first points in WorldSBK as well as the team’s highest-scoring points haul of the season. He held off a late charge from Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team) in 13th, with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) rounding out the points-paying positions; Syahrin was one of the first riders to make the switch to slick tyres when he pitted on Lap 6.

Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was one of the last riders to pit and finished in 16th place; less than a second behind Syahrin despite the gap in when they pitted. Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) was 17th with Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) in 18th and Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in 19th; Konig was running in the podium places, along with Redding and Smith, when he pitted at the end of Lap 13. Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven), the only rider to start on a rear intermediate tyre, ran through the gravel on the opening lap. He brought his machine back into the but re-joined the race a lap down and finished in 20th place.

Japanese rider Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) brought his bike into the pits on the opening lap of the race to retire. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) retired on Lap 21 of 22 after his second crash of the race. His first crash came at Turn 10 on Lap 7, while his second as at Turn 4 on the penultimate lap which forced him out of the race.

WorldSBK Phillip Island Race One (Full Results Here)

1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +6.247s
3 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +15.435s

MNA

Phillip Island Tissot Superpole Race
The final Tissot Superpole Race of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign was one that’ll live long in the memory after a stunning slick tyre gamble on a wet Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit track by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. Bautista was the only rider in the top nine to start on slick tyres and he made it work as he fought back from a difficult start to take victory by more than three seconds.

Bautista started from pole position but, with slick tyres on a track that was still wet, rapidly dropped down the order and was classified in 14th place at the end of the opening lap. However, as the track tried following a pre-race rain shower, Bautista’s times got faster and faster and he picked his way through the field to claim his 15th victory of the season, passing his rivals on Lap 9 of 10; passing Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) at Turn 2 and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) at Turn 9. Bautista will start from first for Race 2, alongside Razgatlioglu and Rea, who were separated by just 0.043s at the line in Razgatlioglu’s favour, meaning Razgatlioglu secured second in the World Championship standings Both Razgatlioglu and Rea were on intermediate tyres.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took fourth place, 6.670s down on Bautista at the end of the race, ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in fifth place. Locatelli had to fend off Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who, like Bautista, took a gamble albeit later on in proceedings. Lining up on the grid on Pirelli’s rain tyres, the British rider pitted at the end of the warm-up lap to switch to intermediate tyres to take sixth place and to line up for Race 2 from the second row of the grid.

American star Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took seventh place in the thrilling encounter, while Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was eighth. Vierge had a strong start on the intermediate tyre but dropped down the order, finishing ahead of Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team) who took the final point in the Superpole Race, and also secured himself a third row start for Race 2; his best result since returning to the Barni Ducati team.

Along with Redding, Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) pitted at the end of the warm-up lap to switch tyres, although he did not make the same progress as he finished in 16th. Oettl was penalised by 0.695s for a pit intervention time infringement, with riders required to spend 63 seconds between pit entry and pit exit. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a storming start and was running in the podium places, but he pitted at the end of Lap 2 to change tyres. Like Oettl, van der Mark had a pit intervention time infringement and was penalised by 3.560s. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was another who opted to change tyres, with the Italian finishing second.

WorldSBK Phillip Island Tissot Superpole Race (Full Results Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +3.285s
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +3.328s

McLeods

Phillip Island Race Two
The final race of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race was ended early following a red flag at the end of Lap 18 with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) taking a hard-fought Race 2 victory at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit for the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. He fended off Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) throughout the full race as he secured his 16th win of the season.

Bautista started from pole position following his Tissot Superpole Race victory earlier on Sunday and he finished there at the end of the race, but it was far from straight forward for the Spanish rider. Bautista did lose ground at the start but worked his way past Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who fought his way into second place in the early laps, with Bautista passing him at Turn 2 for third place before he overtook Rea at Turn 1 on Lap 7.

Rea did not let Bautista pull away from him though and always stayed within one second of Bautista, but he was unable to overtake the 2022 Champion, with Bautista holding on by 0.357s when the results were taken from. The race was red flagged after a collision involving Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team) and Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) at Turn 1, with Laverty taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash but he was conscious. Laverty was diagnosed with a pelvic injury and taken to Alfred Hospital in Melbourne by helicopter for further assessments.

Behind the duo, there was a battle brewing for third place between Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) with Lowes coming out on top, after he made the move at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 15. It meant Bautista took his 16th win of the year, matching his total from 2019, while he now has 32 career wins; putting him level with Chaz Davies and Razgatlioglu. Rea moves on to 245 career podiums with second place while Lowes now has 33 rostrum visits to his name.

Despite being in the lead group, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took fourth place after he passed by, with Lowes moving into the podium position and demoting the 2021 Champion, his last race with the #1 plate, until fourth place. Two Pata Yamaha riders finished in the top five with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) taking fifth place to end his season in the top five. Redding had been in the podium places in the opening laps of the 18-lap encounter, but he dropped back as the race progressed to sixth place.

Seventh place went to Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as the second-best Ducati in Race 2, ahead of Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) who finished as the top Independent rider in the final race of the year. Tetsuta Nagashima (Team HRC) rounded out a strong debut weekend as he stood in for Iker Lecuona with ninth place, while Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) took tenth place as prepares for a second season with the independent BMW outfit.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) had been running inside the top ten during the early stages of the race but dropped down to 11th place, just ahead of Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in 12th place. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) rounded out his Kawasaki Puccetti career with 13th place, while Czech rookie Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) backed up his point from Indonesia with 14th place and two more points in Race 2 in Australia. Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda) took home the final point of 2022 as he finished in 15th place.

Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) ended his WorldSBK career with 17th place, finishing ahead of Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Kyle Smith (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) in 18th; the last classified rider in Race 2.

Garrett Gerloff’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) Yamaha career ended when he crashed at Turn 2 on the opening lap, after an incident with Xavi Vierge (Team HRC), with the Spanish rider able to re-join the but he brought his bike into the pits and re-joined the race two laps down in 21st place; he was classified as retired after completing 13 laps.

WorldSBK Phillip Island Race Two (Full Results Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.357s
3 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Final 2022 Championship Standings (Full Standings Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 601 points
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 529
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 502

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