Six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea won wet World Superbike Race One Saturday at Autodrom Most, in the Czech Republic. Riding his factory Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, Rea won the 22-lap race by over four seconds. It was his first race win of the 2023 season.
Toprak Razgatlioglu was the runner-up on his Pata Yamaha Prometeon YZF-R1, and Danilo Petrucci took third on his Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati Panigale V4 R.
Defending World Champion Alvaro Bautista finished 12th on his Aruba.it Racing Ducati but still holds a significant point lead in the Championship standings.
American Garrett Gerloff crashed his Bonovo Action BMW M 1000 RR and Did Not Finish (DNF).
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Rea triumphs with inspired ride in wet and wild WorldSBK Race 1 at Most
WorldSBK Race 1 at Most started in wet conditions, prompting riders to either opt for rain or intermediate tyres. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) initially led the pack but lost ground to Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who chose intermediate tires. Bassani pitted later as track conditions improved, switching from rain tyres to slicks, but couldn’t regain the lost time, finishing seventh. The battle for the win intensified between Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), with Rea’s consistent pace securing him his first victory since 2022, despite his rival’s efforts to close the gap after a cautious start. The Turkish rider finished in second place, continuing his impressive streak of 19 consecutive podiums and closing the gap on Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) to 54 points.
Meanwhile, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), who also chose to start on intermediates and not stop for slicks, secured his second career podium with third place. Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) also didn’t stop and finished fourth, while Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) took fifth place. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) rounded out the top six.
Championship leader Alvaro Bautista, however, missed the opportunity to establish a new absolute record of season wins (18) as he finished in 12th place. He started from 14th on the grid due to a penalty in the Tissot Superpole and started on the wet tyres, before pitting for slicks where he had an issue with the pit stop.
Read the full report from Race 1 on worldsbk.com
Jonathan Rea clinched his first win of the season and became the first rider to win at all 22 tracks on the current WorldSBK calendar, securing his 15th winning season in the Championship.
P1 | Jonathan Rea | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
“I knew that today, sat on the grid in these conditions, it would be a good opportunity to push for a race win. I got a good start and was with the guys on wet tyres at the beginning. I knew the intermediates were the right choice.
Even in the garage, I watched the WorldSSP300 race and the guys in front stayed out there on wets and OK, the lap times weren’t great but I could see that even with slick tyres were much more performance in the ‘mizzling’ conditions. So, from that point of view, I was convinced that to get anything out of today, then the right choice was intermediates to generate heat in the tyre. On the sighting lap, I used wet knee sliders and got my knee down a couple of times and felt OK. I convinced myself to put heat in the tyres because the worst thing you can do is not put temperature in the tyre. It worked from Lap 2.
The gap in the middle of the race was quite big to Toprak and the others. The bike started moving a lot as the setup was quite soft, so I could benefit early on and then manage the race. What can I say? It’s such a nice present for my team, my crew… all their hard work! We look forward to tomorrow now and try to get back on the podium then too.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu continued his impressive streak with a 19th consecutive podium, finishing 4.007 seconds behind Rea at the line.
In third place, Danilo Petrucci claimed his 2nd career podium, finishing 7.939 seconds behind the race winner.
Scott Redding secured a fourth-place finish, crossing the line 14.736 seconds behind Rea.
