WSBK Superbike Mandalika: The challenges of Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioğlu and Jonathan Rea…

The 2022 Superbike World Championship enters its home stretch this weekend with two consecutive overseas meetings in Indonesia and Australia. And the situation in the ranking is quite clear: Alvaro Bautista  (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) leads with 82 points ahead of Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and 98 on Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with a maximum of 124 left to score.

A situation far from easy for the Yamaha and Kawasaki riders, and which is reminiscent, to a lesser extent, of the position of Fabio Quartararo last week…

However, among the three contenders for the title, each will have a challenge to take up on the Mandalika circuit located on the island of Lombok, whose 4,310 km long layout has 17 turns, a high number for a circuit of this total length , without a long main straight line. This is a somewhat unusual feature given recent trends in circuit design, but above all, in this case, enough to balance the possibilities of each, despite the power of a certain Ducati #19…

But it's not the only one: the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit was inaugurated last year as the final race of the 2021 Superbike championship. Having also hosted the first MotoGP round in March 2022, the complete resurfacing of the track had become necessary. The Italian company Dromo was chosen for the work, and it created an innovative asphalt mixture to cope with the strong temperature variations that occur throughout the day due to the proximity of the roadside track. Wed. Changes were also made to the vibrators and loopholes were widened. The work was completed a few days ago, so the characteristics of the new asphalt are not known!

To Alvaro Bautista, as for the others, it will therefore be necessary to discover this new surface with an expected fluctuating weather, but the Spaniard will have to do it on the handlebars of a Panigale V4 R which he has never driven on this circuit.

With an 82-point lead in the general classification, the Ducati rider nevertheless has a first match point from the first race this weekend in Indonesia, the 900th race of the Superbike championship, if he comes ahead. Toprak Razgatlioğlu by 17 points, and ahead Jonathan Rhea by one point. Otherwise, he will still have two chances this weekend…

Alvaro Bautista : “I'm happy to be back in Indonesia, also because the passion for motorcycles is really strong in this country. This weekend will be one of the most difficult for us. I've never raced here with Ducati before, so from Friday morning I'll have to find some reference points for this bike. Also, the asphalt is new and we will have to work to understand many factors, including grip. The uncertain weather does not give us a helping hand in this regard, but we must be prepared for all conditions. »

 

To Toprak Razgatlioğlu, the mission is therefore clear: win, win and win, on the land of its consecration last year, as much to try to catch up in the general classification, as to not lose second place in the championship before the last meeting in Australia. To maintain a title shot, ideally, the current deficit of 82 points must be reduced to less than 62 by the end of the weekend.

Toprak Razgatlioğlu : “There was something missing last year in Indonesia, I was second in the race – now I'm coming to fight for first place. For me the championship is not important now, the gap is big so I just focus on each race. I focus directly on Mandalika, because we have good memories there – you know, in 2021 we are world champions – but also we finished the race in second position, now the dream is to win three races in Mandalika. We will see ! »

Finally, for Jonathan Rhea, the objective is very precise, and achievable: to seize 2nd place in the championship, 16 points ahead of him!

And the Northern Irishman arrives precisely at the Mandalika circuit which saw him win both victories last year, after the first race was canceled due to torrential rain...
In addition, the route of
Despite a few sections with heavy braking, the riders believe that the circuit is very fluid, which would not displease the Kawasaki spearhead.

Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team): “ I'm really excited to go to Mandalika and Indonesia, because last year was our first experience on this circuit. I really enjoyed the whole event, everything from the track layout to the atmosphere. The fans were incredible, especially in difficult conditions. It's a circuit where we expect to be strong and last year I had a double victory. I won in the wet and also in the dry, so I really want to have a good weekend this year, keep working with our Ninja ZX-10RR and try to maximize our potential. »

The weather will bring its share of uncertainty for all the competitors... and hostilities will begin at 3:00 a.m. tonight for French enthusiasts!