The final triptych of the Superbike World Championship begins in Argentina: Alvaro Bautista in the lead prepares for the decisive sprint.
It's this time or never: Ducati has been chasing the Superbike World Championship for eleven years and Alvaro Bautista is on track to achieve its goal. With three laps remaining (9 races), 186 points are at stake and the Spaniard enters the final sprint with a solid lead: 56 points over the reigning champion, Toprak Razgatlioğlu, and an impressive lead of 82 points over Jonathan Rhea. Kawasaki is practically out of the race: since his arrival on the Ninja, the six-time world champion has never been so far from the lead in the championship. Not even in 2019, when Alvaro Bautista chained eleven victories in a row at the start of the season, before collapsing from the summer and serving the title to Jonathan Rea on a silver platter. Those days are over: This year, the Ducati rider seems to have matured to become rock-solid reliable.
Extra-European triptych
Superbike '22 ends with a triptych outside Europe, logistically complicated and extremely demanding on team budgets, especially small and medium-sized ones. It will start in San Juan, Argentina, then in November they will go to Mandalika (Indonesia, 12-13) with the grand final at Phillip Island, Australia, 19-20. On the fast South American circuit, the winners ofAlvaro Bautista is excellent: in his only appearance with Ducati, in 2019, he won race 1 starting from pole and during the Sunday challenges he was second and fifth. Here, Soil Razgatlioğlu won twice last year, while Jonathan Rhea has four victories: In this area, the Northern Irishman has been fasting since May 22, that is to say since the Estoril round.
Alvaro Bautista holds the reins
For half the season there was a fierce battle between the Magnificent Three of Superbike. But after the summer break, Alvaro Bautista and Ducati have definitely broken the balance. Barcelona's hat-trick was the springboard, a display of superiority that also had a big impact on both rivals from a mental point of view.
Alvaro Bautista has always been fast, he also made the difference in 2019. Now that he has found consistency, paying for only one mistake, at Donington, he is becoming out of reach. Also because the Ducati missile has also progressed: Now the Panigale is not only a brute force on the straight, but it is also the bike that handles the tires best. Álvarito exploited the soft SCX tires better than anyone, but in Portimão he also won with the medium SC0s. The whole thing is great, there don't seem to be any weak points.
World ranking
1. Bautista (Ducati) points 448; 2. Razgatlioğlu (Yamaha) 392; 3. Rea (Kawasaki) 366; 4. Rinaldi (Ducati) 232, 5. Locatelli (Yamaha) 196; 6. Lowes A. (Kawasaki) 189; 7. Bassani (Ducati) 187; 8. Lecuona (Honda) 163; 9. Redding (BMW) 156; 10. Virgin (Honda) 115.
A busy weekend
Unfortunately, Argentina had to coincide not only with MotoGP in Malaysia, but also with F1 in Austin, Texas. Fortunately, time zones are different.
Friday, October 21th
14:30-15:15 WorldSSP – FP1
15-25 WorldSBK – FP16
19:00-19:45 WorldSSP – FP2
20-00 WorldSBK – FP20
Samedi octobre 22 2022
16:25-16:45 WorldSSP – Superpole
17:10-17:25 WorldSBK – Superpole
18:30 WorldSSP – Race 1
20:00 p.m. WorldSBK – Race 1
Sunday October 23 2022
15:00-15:15 WorldSBK – Warm up
15:25-15:40 WorldSSP – Warm up
17:00 WorldSBK – Superpole Race
18:30 WorldSSP – Race 2
20:00 p.m. WorldSBK – Race 2
Read the original article on Corsedimoto.com
