A dominant victory for Alvaro Bautista in Race 2 for the Pirelli French Round. The Spanish rider won by a wide margin ahead of Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) and Rea (Kawasaki) and defended his championship lead. With three rounds to go in the 2023 WorldSBK season, Bautista’s lead over Razgatlioglu is 57 points.
Unlucky Sunday for Rinaldi after a good podium in Race 1. In the Superpole Race, the Italian rider was unintentionally hit by his team-mate and crashed, finding himself forced to start Race-2 from eleventh position. The start, however, was extremely convincing: Rinaldi recovered several positions and moved up to fourth place. From three-quarters of the race, however, Rinaldi’s pace dropped dramatically as he experienced high difficulty in braking areas, and then he was forced to return to the pits.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #1)
“It was a really emotional weekend. After the problem I had in Race 1, in the Superpole Race I was unfortunately involved in contact with Michael. I’m very sorry that he crashed but you have to believe me: I couldn’t do anything to avoid the contact. Race-2 was really good for me as the feeling was extraordinary from the first to the last lap”.