World Superbikes: Alvaro Bautista wins again as Jonathan Rea's struggles continue
- Published
Alvaro Bautista formerly competed in MotoGP
Alvaro Bautista continued his winning start to the 2023 World Superbike series by taking victory in Indonesia but Jonathan Rea's early-season struggles continued with a ninth place.
Bautista followed up last week's hat-trick in Phillip Island by taking victory from Toprak Razgatlioglu in Race One at the Mandalika circuit.
Razgatlioglu led early on before being overtaken by the Spaniard on lap five.
The Ducati rider's eventual winning margin was almost five seconds.
The victory represented a first-ever success at the Indonesian circuit for the Italian manufacturer and gave Bautista a sixth consecutive race win, a sequence that stretches back to the final round of last year's championship at Phillip Island.
The 38-year-old also becomes the first rider to have two consecutive streaks of four wins to start a campaign.
Andrea Locatelli was almost two seconds behind his Pata Yamaha team-mate Razgatlioglu in third, with Axel Bassani, Danilo Petrucci and Michael van der Mark completing the top six.
Bautista leads the standings by 37 points from Locatelli, with Razgatlioglu a further seven points in arrears in third and six-time champion Rea fourth with 38.
Rea looked to make progress in the early stages of the race but dropped down the order, just edging out his Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes to claim ninth.
The Northern Ireland rider had followed up an encouraging second-place finish in Race One in Australia with seventh and eighth places in the last two races of the weekend.
World Superbike standings
1. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Ducati, 87 points
2. Andrea Locatelli (Ita) Yamaha, 50
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Tur) Ducati, 43
4. Jonathan Rea (NI) Kawasaki, 38
5. Axel Bassani (Ita) Ducati, 38
6. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ita) Ducati, 31