Race 1
Race 1 in the Motul Indonesian Round and it was a dramatic affair at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit as Alvaro Bautista made it four wins in a row in the 2023 season after a fighting victory in Indonesia.
Bautista went head-to-head with Toprak Razgatlioglu in the early stages of the race at a circuit where Razgatlioglu has been so successful at since it joined the calendar in 2021.
Bautista was initially behind Toprak Razgatlioglu in the opening five laps of the race as the pair led the first group. The reigning Champion applied pressure to Razgatlioglu in the early stages but did make his move until Lap 5 as he caught Razgatlioglu by surprise through Turn 15 to move into the lead of the race.
Razgatlioglu attempted to fight back but Axel Bassani was able to pass him a lap later at Turn 10 before the 2021 Champion responded a lap later.
Bautista’s fourth win in the 2023 season means he is now on a winning run of six races that stretches back to Phillip Island in 2022.
For championship hopeful Jonathan Rea it was a race to forget Rea had taken fifth in the Tissot Superpole session but was demoted three places on the grid which forced him to start from eighth.
Although he looked to make progress in the early stages, the six-time Champion dropped down the order to finish ninth after a last-lap scrap with his teammate.
Superpole Race
The original start in the Superpole Race was red flagged at the start of Lap 2. There was a crash on Lap 1 at Turn 2 involving Alex Lowes, Loris Baz and Danilo Petrucci with Lowes and Baz retiring from the original race but Petrucci able to continue.
The incident was investigated by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards, with no further action taken. A lap later, Jonathan Rea crashed at the same corner with the red flags deployed shortly after. Rea was able to make his way back to the pits on his machine to take the start in the restarted race, while Lowes and Baz were able to take to the restarted race.
In the restarted race, Razgatlioglu and Bautista went head-to-head on the opening lap for victory with the 2021 Champion securing his first 2023 win as he broke clear of the gap. Bautista had his own moment that he couldn’t save; Bautista went down and retired from the race.
That drama allowed Andrea Locatelli to move into second place, while Lowes took third spot at the chequered flag. Jonathan Rea finished 4th respectively.
Race 2
In another dramatic race in Race 2, Alvaro Bautista fought back to claim victory in Indonesia in a red-flagged Race 2 after battling with teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi.
The original race was red flagged at the start of Lap 8 after an incident at Turn 11 involving Michael van der Mark and Philipp Oettl with both riders retiring from the race and unable to take the restart.
Bautista had opted to switch tyres in the red flag period as he switched from the SCX tyre for the original race to the SC0 for the restarted race. This allowed the Spaniard to overtake his teammate and leader during the race and take the race win making it a double race victory.
On the final lap, Rinaldi ran wide at Turn 10 and lost two positions to Razgatlioglu and Xavi Vierge in third place with Vierge taking his first WorldSBK podium.
Jonathan Rea crashed out of the race after he crashed at Turn 7 with the six-time Champion taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash.
