Alvaro Bautista increases championship lead as Toprak crashes.
Alvaro Bautista wins Race 1 and 2 in WorldSBK Argentina to further increase his lead in the championship as Toprak Razgatlioglu limits the damage with a Superpole Race win.
DAY 1: WorldSBK Superpole
After being the fastest in free practice on Friday and in FP3 this morning, in qualifying, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took pole position for the Motul Argentinean Round of the FIM World Superbike Championship ahead of six time world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). The Turkish rider set a new track record with a time of 1’36.216, more than a second faster than the previous record set in 2021 by Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
DAY 1: WorldSBK RACE 1
The race lost one of the main protagonists on the first lap when Razgatlioglu ended up in the gravel on turn 9. The Turkish rider managed to re-enter the track, but his race was already over and he finished in 15th place. Axel Bassani took the lead ahead of Bautista and Rea. The Italian privateer was unable to fend off the Spanish Ducati rider who overtook him for the lead on the eighth lap. During the 18th lap, the Italian was also forced to yield second place to Jonathan Rea, finishing on the bottom step of the podium.
DAY 1: WorldSSP
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), won the race from pole position ahead of Italians Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing Verdnatura WorldSSP), second, and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing), third.
DAY 2: WorldSBK SUPERPOLE RACE
Pole man Toprak Razgatlioglu, Jonathan Rea, who started from the second spot on the grid and Álvaro Bautista who started from the third took turns in the lead of the 10 lap race. Razgatlioglu held onto the top spot until the second lap, yielding it to Rea but taking it back during the sixth lap. However, on the penultimate lap, Bautista managed to get past the Turkish rider who then snatched it back on the final lap for the win ahead of the Ducati rider, second, and the Kawasaki rider, third.
DAY 2: WorldSBK RACE 2
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) stole the show from their respective title contender teammates, moving into the top two spots. Toprak Razgatlioglu was in fifth place, however, a few laps later Bautista took the lead ahead of Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea close behind. Bautista was the winner ahead of the Turkish Yamaha rider and the six time world champion Kawasaki rider. This takes Bautista to +82 points over Razgatlioglu and +98 ahead of Rea.
DAY 2: WorldSSP
Pole man Dominique Aegerter was still the main protagonist of the race, but Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing Verdnatura WorldSSP) and then Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) did not make life easy for him. The Swiss did however manage to win Race 2 as well ahead of Caricasulo and Baldassarri which now puts him at 15 wins this season.
The next round is 11-13 November ad the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit, Indonesia.