Australia WorldSBK Superpole Race: Slick tyre gamble pays off for Bautista

Results from the Superpole Race, round 12 of the 2022 WorldSBK Championship at Phillip Island, Australia.

20 Nov 2022

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Phillip Island

Starting on pole for the second time this weekend, Alvaro Bautista looked set to miss out on converting it into victory for the second time as he was one of two riders that elected to start on dry tyres while the track remained wet.

But as changeable conditions played its part for the second time this weekend, the Ducati rider quickly turned it into his favour as he picked off the riders in front.

Bautista: ‘We depend too much on the set-up, it was like riding on ice’

Despite slipping down to 14th by the end of lap one, Bautista was back in the lead on the penultimate lap as he passed Jonathan Rea at turn two and Toprak Razgatlioglu at turn nine.

Battling hard for the win, just as they did in the Superpole Race at Mandalika, Razgatlioglu and Rea were separated by just +0.043s in their battle for second over the line.

2022 World Superbike Phillip Island, Australia - Superpole Race Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	10 Laps
2	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	+3.285s
3	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+3.328s
4	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+6.670s
5	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK	+9.238s
6	Scott Redding	GBR	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+9.328s
7	Garrett Gerloff	USA	GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+12.173s
8	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+13.427s
9	Xavi Fores	SPA	Barni Spark Ducati Team	+17.416s
10	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+18.069s
11	Lucas Mahias	FRA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+27.298s
12	Hafizh Syahrin	MAL	MIE Honda Racing	+29.522s
13	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+32.064s
14	Leandro Mercado	ARG	MIE Honda Racing	+35.276s
15	Eugene Laverty	IRL	Bonovo Action BMW	+35.868s
16	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+40.015s
17	Kohta Nozane	JPN	GRT Yamaha	+50.920s
18	Kyle Smith	GBR	Pedercini Kawasaki	+51.281s
19	Tetsuta Nagashima	JAP	Team HRC WorldSBK	+51.701s
20	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+1'03.042s
21	Michael Van Der Mark	NED	BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1'11.979s
22	Michael Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+1'36.397s

Phillip Island WorldSBK Records

Fastest Lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 1:30.075s

2020 Race Winners

Race 1 - Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team

Race 2 - Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team

2022 Race Winners

Race 1 - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team

Superpole Race - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati

Alex Lowes once again got the better of Andrea Locatelli as he finished fourth aboard the second factory Kawasaki machine, while Scott Redding took a strong sixth place finish.

The final points went the way of Garrett Gerloff, Xavi Vierge and Xavi Fores.

Phillip Island Weekend Schedule

Friday

Free Practice 1 - 00:30-01:15

Free Practice 2 - 05:00-05:45

Saturday

Free Practice 3 - 23:50-00:20

Superpole - 02:10-02:25

Race 1 - 05:00

Sunday

Warm-up - 23:30-23:45

Superpole Race - 02:00

Race 2 - 05:00

Our specialist in British and World Superbikes. Robert covers the Toprak Razgatlioglu vs Jonathan Rea rivalry in all its gory detail - just don’t ask him which bike racing championship is the most exciting…