Alvaro Bautista took his eighth victory in nine starts as the 2022 WorldSBK Champion stamps his authority with Assen hat-trick, which was also Ducati’s 400th win.

Toprak Razgatlioglu secured second place in Race 2 for his sixth consecutive podium finish. The 2021 WorldSBK Champion stands in second place in the Championship standings with 118 points. Race 2 saw Jonathan swap places and trade paint once again with Bautista and Razgatlioglu. In the heat of the battle, Rea crashed out at Turn 9 from a podium position as he pushed for a first win of the year. Andrea Locatelli was third, claiming his fourth podium of the season so far. After nine races, he has already equaled his best podium tally from 2021. Locatelli maintains his third place in the standings and sits only 14 points behind Razgatlioglu. Rookie Dominique Aegerter crossed the finish line in fifth place but finished fourth following Axel Bassani’s penalty for a track limits infraction on the final lap; Bassani was demoted one place. Today’s fourth place is the Swiss rider’s best result in WorldSBK. Teammate Remy Gardner completed Race 2’s top six. Dutch rider Michael van der Mark crashed at Turn 16 and was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. He was subsequently transported to hospital for further assessments on a suspect left femur fracture, and this injury was confirmed following his checks at hospital.

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship had more history written at the TT Circuit Assen during the Pirelli Dutch Round as Italian manufacturer Ducati claimed their 400th victory in WorldSBK history after Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed a hat-trick in the Netherlands. Ducati become the first manufacturer to reach this milestone.

The battle for the lead involved Bautista, Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the early stages of the race with all three taking their chance to lead throughout the race. Razgatlioglu made his move for the lead on Lap 3 but Bautista responded quickly, before Rea made his move on Lap 5 at the same Turn 8. Bautista was able to respond almost immediately to re-claim the lead and Rea’s race would come to an end on the following lap. He lost the front of his Kawasaki machine at Turn 9 on Lap 6 which put him out of the race.

It meant the fight for victory became between Bautista and Razgatlioglu, but the reigning Champion was able to pull out a gap over Razgatlioglu as he claimed his 40th WorldSBK win and Ducati’s 400th win in WorldSBK. Razgatlioglu was unchallenged as he took second place in Race 2 to continue his run of podium finishes, now at six races. He was directly ahead of teammate Andrea Locatelli in third, matching his podium tally from 2021 and doubling his count from 2022. Locatelli had to fend off a challenge from Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) who took fifth place.

WorldSBK will return with the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round taking place from the 5th to the 7th of May at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

WorldSBK Race 2 Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +3.915s
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +7.416s
4. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +9.445s
5. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) +9.500s
6. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +12.279s

WorldSBK Championship standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 174 points
2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 118 points
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 104 points

WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race Results
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.916s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +1.757s

P1 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
« It’s a fantastic feeling I’m having now. It’s an incredible milestone for Ducati with 400 victories. Congrats to Ducati for all the history they are making! On my side, I’m happy. More than the result, I’m happy because the feeling with the bike is amazing. Yesterday, I felt good, but we had some problems in the race that maybe because you cannot notice from the outisde, but I felt it on the bike, and I know when I am able to go faster, or when I can have a better feeling and when I cannot. So, today we made a change on the bike in the set up, and already in the morning I felt much better. In in the Superpole race, I started to push harder and harder and I see the limit of the bike was more far than yesterday.

“I was able to go really fast in the Superpole Race. Also, in Race 2, I was able to be more precise in my riding, and it was more enjoyable. I could also manage better the wind because today it was a bit stronger, and its direction was different, especially in the first part of the race. I must understand in which area the wind helped me to close corner and in which area I had to be careful too because push me out. And at the end I could get a good pace, I was able to be on the limit and I could pull the limit of the bike and I’m happy because I did that. This is, I think, the maximum. So, I’m happy because I gave my best, despite the circumstance. It has really been a perfect weekend for us.”

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