Álvaro Bautista scores a double at the 2022 World Superbike Championship in Australia
Rider Álvaro Bautista scores a World Superbike double at Phillip Island Circuit in Australia, in today's races.
The World Superbike Championship has held its final races of the 2022 season at Phillip Island Circuit, in Australia. This championship has been extremely exciting, with difficult track conditions, so expectations were at their peak for the close of the year.
First came the Superpole Race, in which we saw many riders undecided about their tyres, the bravest being Bautista, who started on dry tyres from the outset. The start was very good for the Yamaha riders, with Locatelli and Toprak leading, followed by Bautista, but with all the unknowns about how the track would evolve.
With 5 laps to go, we saw Rea leading and Bautista recovering positions on his slick tyres, while Toprak was also in contention alongside the Kawasaki rider. Two laps later Bautista was already 3rd, trying to catch Toprak and Rea at the front, and with 2 laps to go he managed to pass both riders to take the race lead.
Finally, Bautista won the Superpole Race, having taken a risk that paid off, while Toprak and Rea completed the podium. The top 10 was completed by Lowes, Locatelli, Redding, Gerloff, Vierge, Forés and Baz.
And then came the time for Race 2, with a good start for Bautista, who kept the first position he had on the grid, but Rea and Redding managed to overtake the Ducati rider to lead. With 18 laps to go, Rea was still 1st, but Bautista was 2nd after passing Redding, while behind them Toprak was fighting with the group.
Two laps later, Bautista took the race lead, and with 10 laps remaining, the reference trio were fighting for victory with Lowes as the new addition, but Bautista and Rea broke away from the group and went off alone.
With 5 laps to go, Race Direction showed the red flag due to the crash of Eugene Laverty and Xavi Forés. It was also confirmed that the 50 suffers an injury to the pelvic area and needs further medical tests. In this situation, Bautista won Race 2, followed by Rea and Lowes. The top 10 was completed by Toprak, Locatelli, Redding, Rinaldi, Oettl, Nagashima and Baz. With this result, Bautista was crowned Champion with 601 points, followed by Toprak 72 points behind and Rea 99 points behind.
Onto the next season, 2023.
