What an absolutely thrilling end to the Superbike season in Jerez! Álvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatligolu put on a real show for more than half the race, with both sharing the lead several times. In the end, victory went to Bautista, even though Razgatlioglu crossed the finish line first, but was penalised for touching the green part of the track; Jonathan Rea crashed when he was in the lead and had an inglorious but dignified farewell.
With the title decisions already settled, today was still an intense day due to the farewells and changes that would take place in 2023. Today marked the farewell of Jonathan Rea with Kawasaki, the manufacturer with which he won 6 titles, with Toprak Razgatlioglu also being one of the highlights, he who is going to BMW, not forgetting Michael Rinaldi, who is leaving Ducati.
Bautista got off to a good start, but it was Rea who moved into the lead during the first lap, with Razga temporarily in third, even before he took second place in the race.
After three laps Rea was still in the lead with a lead of almost 1s over Razgatlioglu, Bautista completed the top three, while Dominique Aegerter and Andrea Locatelli rounded off the top five.
Then, completely unexpectedly, Rea crashed when he was in the lead. The Briton lost the front of his motorbike at turn 2, but eventually got back on his bike and into the race.
Razgatlioglu thus took the lead of the race and was once again prepared to be opposed by Bautista in the fight for the race lead, in a battle so often seen this year in the category. The Turk had a 0.9s lead over the world champion.
There was still one title to be decided today, the team title, and with Razgatlioglu leading the way the title was provisionally for Pata Yamaha.
Rea, on this very special day, after riding last, had already beaten Oliver Konig and Florian Alt, and was preparing to overtake Leandro Mercado as well, something that happened shortly afterwards.
Bautista was back in the lead, but the Turk responded and took the lead again. The #1 didn’t want to be left behind and took the lead again… only to lose it again, then go back to the front… only to be left behind. The race was half over, with the front duo swapping places again and again.
The exchange of arguments between the two riders continued over the next few laps and at this stage it was impossible to guess who would emerge as the winner of this battle. Rinaldi took advantage of this duel to gradually gain time, in third place, but only 0.310s behind the leader. Razgatlioglu was getting the better of Bautista.
Rea continued to grow, already in 17th, after overtaking a few other riders, including Gabriele Ruiu, Hafizh Syahrin and Loris Baz.
Rinaldi, after a long time in third, fell behind in the race and it was Aegerter who reached the podium again.
The race ended shortly afterwards, with Razgatlioglu crossing the finish line in first place:
But… he was penalised one position and the win went to Bautista: