With Pirelli Bautista is WorldSBK champion for the second time
With the Race 1 win in Jerez, the Ducati riding Spaniard confirms his World Champion thanks in part to his perfect tyre management demonstrated throughout the entire season
Saturday in Jerez della Frontera crowned Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) FIM Superbike World Champion for the second year in a row.
With the Race 1 win, the Ducati riding Spaniard took the two points that he needed to be mathematically crowned champion with one day and two races still left to ride.
For Bautista this is the second WorldSBK title and the second one he has won with Pirelli, thanks in part to the exemplary ability to manage the tyres which the Bautista-Ducati duo has demonstrated throughout the season.
In WorldSSP, newly crowned World Champion Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) set the record for the most pole positions in a single season (ten) and also won Race 1.
In both categories, the reference tyres were the ones in super soft SCX compound when it came to the rear and in SC1 compound for the front.
Congratulations to Bautista and Ducati for this great season
“This year once again, Bautista and Ducati confirmed that they are a winning duo. Ducati is undoubtedly the best bike on the track and this is also demonstrated by the Manufacturers’ Title they won. But Bautista also made the difference, managing to squeeze the best from the Panigale V4R, basically tailoring it to himself. No other Ducati rider was able to do what he did with this bike. And part of this success is also down to Bautista and Ducati’s ability to take full advantage of the tyres, not only on this track, but throughout the season. Even on the most difficult tracks that put the tyres to a hard test, Bautista and Ducati’s tyre management played a key role in this victory. So, congratulations to Bautista for this well-deserved success and to the entire Ducati staff for the great development that they did and their outstanding teamwork. Today, the tyres performed up to expectations and the most used solutions where the softest ones, in the SCX compound at the rear and the SC1 at the front.”
- In Superpole, all the riders used the extra-soft SCQ at the rear and the standard SC1 at the front. With a time of 1’38.635 Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took pole position ahead of Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Seventh place went to Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) behind the private Yamahas ridden by Aegerter and Gardner.
- In Race 1, all the riders chose to start with the standard SC1 front tyre, whereas at the rear, most of them used the standard SCX, with some on the SCX B0800 development solution, and only Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) opting for the standard SC0, the hardest option available to them. Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started well from pole position, staying in the lead undisturbed all the way to the finish. During the race, Razgatlioğlu managed to move up from seventh to second place, but he was never able to catch the Ducati rider. Third across the line with the Turkish rider’s teammate, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). And for Bautista, his second WorldSBK championship title arrives.
- Tenth pole position this year for Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) out of a total of 12 championship races, an absolute pole position record in a single season. The newly crowned 2023 World Champion took pole position with a time of 1'41.823. Rounding out the front row of the grid behind him were Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team), starting from second place, and Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), third at the start. In Superpole, which was held with asphalt temperatures at 20°C, all the riders use the standard SCX rear solution to do their best times.
- As for rear tyre choices, in Race 1, all the riders (except Bahattin Sofuoglu, who used a standard SC0), decided to go with the super soft standard SCX solution, whereas at the front, the SC1 development solution in B1333 compound was clearly the most popular among the riders. Bulega went on to win the race, dominating it from start to finish, with Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) rounding out the podium in second and third place respectively. Team Ten Kate Racing Yamaha took home the team World Title.
More details on the tyres used in the race are available on the technical sheets attached to this release.
