The World Superbike Championship enthralled into one of the most competitive championships in recent memory.
One of the defining themes of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign was the incredible three-way fight between Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), title winner Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK). Three riders from three different manufactures. It was all to play for in the 2022 season.
First Blood for Bautista
In the opening rounds it looked like to be a two horse between Rea and Bautista exchanging race victories as for Toprak was making unusual errors. However, once the WSBK arrived at Italy for the Romagna round everything fell into place for the Yamaha team as Razgatlıoğlu picking wins there followed with results in the UK, Czech Republic and in France the gap was starting to close up between the pair.
From there on in the man who wasn’t mentioned was the 6-time world champ Jonathan Rea as his Kawasaki just couldn’t match the speed or braking power from their rivals. Marred by an unforgettable event in France, his chances of claiming a magnificent seventh crown was slipping away.
Once the championship returned back to Spain for the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya event Bautista and his Ducati bike showed their real potential with a hat trick of wins at the circuit including the fastest lap for Race 1, 2 and the Superpole race! The title was within his sights.
Despite this, Toprak if he was going to lose his title, he would be doing it on his own terms as he claimed his own race double in Portugal. At Argentina it was Bautista roaring away with the two featured race wins inching him closer to the championship.
Viva Bautista
By the time they arrived at Singapore luck was needed for the Spaniard to not win the title but at that point it was going to happen, Alvaro Bautista became the first Ducati rider since Carlos Checa in 2011 to take the WorldSBK title at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit. He became World Champion in 2022 after finishing 2nd in Race 2. Redemption time for both rider and manufacturer.
In the ended up to be a dominant season for Ducati Corse as the Italian team finishes the 2022 World Superbike Championship (WSBK) season in Philip Island, Australia, with the Team and Constructor’s titles.
An outstanding season for the Spanish rider, who claimed 14 wins in 33 races, securing the podium 29 times.
Winning the SBK World Championship means a remarkable milestone for Alvaro who wrote a new page of motorbike history: after John Kocinski and Max Biaggi, the rider from Talavera is the third to celebrate the World Championship title both in MotoGP (2006, 125cc class) and in WorldSBK paddock.
It was even sweeter for the Ducati as they claimed both drivers and manufactures titles in both WSBK and Moto GP a feat which we may never see again for a long time. In the end Bautista won it with an impressive 601pts, Toprak 2nd and Rea finishing a lowly 3rd place.
