A good start and strong pace in the first of the three WorldSBK races at Donington Park made for local rider Leon Haslam’s best performance of the season so far, in terms of both his speed and overall result, sixth, while Alvaro Bautista’s consistent pace saw him climb from sixteenth on the grid to eighth across the line.

After using the morning’s fully wet free practice to prepare in case of similar conditions come the races, Bautista and Haslam lined up for the Superpole qualifying phase, which also ran on a wet track. In what was to be his only flying lap, Haslam set the fastest time early on before a crash forced him to return to the pits and sit out almost the entire session. The English rider nevertheless concluded seventh, with a time of 1’42.206 while Bautista qualified sixteenth with a time of 1’43.625. These results translated, respectively, into a third and a sixth row start for the pair for the first of the weekend’s races.

The first 23-lap race got underway at 2pm local time on a damp track that dried rapidly throughout the race. Both riders opted for slick tyres, as did the rest of the Superbike field. Haslam got away well, moving immediately into fifth position. Lapping with similar pace to the group fighting for the podium, and maintaining a strong rhythm throughout the entire race, Leon just wasn’t quite able to get close enough to make a move, ultimately crossing the line in sixth place to score his best result of the season so far. From sixteenth, the Spaniard made up two places over the course of lap one and was up into twelfth by lap two. Continuing to gain ground, Alvaro had climbed to seventh by lap sixteen, but was unable to make further progress due to the gap that had opened up between himself and those immediately ahead of him. Bautista closed the weekend’s first race in a solid eighth place.

Alvaro Bautista 19

P8

“Race conditions were very tricky today, especially in the early stages, as the track dried out. Like everyone else we opted for slick tyres because you could tell the weather was improving. Because I started so far back, I had to be very careful with overtaking early on, because in some sectors there was only a narrow dry line. However, little by little I found good feeling and, in the end, it turned out to be not a bad race, at least in terms of the positions I made up and the data collected. We started the weekend with a different set-up in terms of weight distribution to try and understand a few things but today we ultimately went back to a setting closer to the one we’ve usually used this year. Let's see what the weather will be like tomorrow. In the very wet conditions we had this morning, I felt OK, so we'll see what we get.”

Leon Haslam 91

P6

“This morning was really the first time we’ve ridden in the rain, so I was surprised how easy the lap times came. Having said that, I didn’t make it easy for my team as I then crashed in Superpole, so they did a great job to get the bike ready for the race. The wet gave us the confidence to battle hard, while we know we still have some limitations in the dry. But despite these, we came close to the podium. It was nice to get a strong result and be part of the front group. We still have some areas where we need to improve but we are clear as to what those are. Here, we’re struggling in the stop-start section, the final sector, so if we can find an extra something there, I’m confident we can run two strong races tomorrow.”

WorldSBK 2021
Race Round 04   United Kingdom

Results Tissot Superpole (Wet session)

Wet
Humidity
91%
Track Temp
18°C
Air Temp
16°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Rea Jonathan 1 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'40.101
2 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'40.626 +0.525
3 Sykes Tom 66 GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'40.763 +0.662
4 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'41.351 +1.250
5 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha 1'41.393 +1.292
6 Redding Scott 45 GBR ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'42.067 +1.966
7 Haslam Leon 91 GBR Team HRC Honda 1'42.206 +2.105
8 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'42.587 +2.486
9 Davies Chaz 7 GBR Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1'42.630 +2.529
10 Mahias Lucas 44 FRA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 1'42.658 +2.557
11 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'42.683 +2.582
12 Bassani Alex 47 ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati 1'42.801 +2.700
13 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'42.840 +2.739
14 Mossey Luke 12 GBR OUTDO Kawasaki TPR Kawasaki 1'43.212 +3.111
15 Laverty Eugene 50 IRE RC Squadra Corse BMW 1'43.345 +3.244
16 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'43.625 +3.524
17 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'44.630 +4.529
18 Rabat Tito 53 SPA BARNI Racing Team Ducati 1'44.703 +4.602
19 Ponsson Christophe 23 FRA Alstare Yamaha Yamaha 1'46.568 +6.467
20 Folger Jonas 94 GER Bonovo MGM Racing BMW 1'46.660 +6.559
21 Cresson Loris 84 BEL TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki 1'46.775 +6.674
WorldSBK 2021
Race Round 04   United Kingdom

Results Race 1

Mixed
Humidity
80%
Track Temp
26°C
Air Temp
19°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR 25 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 34'36.377
2 Rea Jonathan 1 GBR 20 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 2.419
3 Lowes Alex 22 GBR 16 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 12.261
4 Sykes Tom 66 GBR 13 BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 14.625
5 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL 11 BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 16.447
6 Haslam Leon 91 GBR 10 Team HRC Honda 17.028
7 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA 9 GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha 33.345
8 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA 8 Team HRC Honda 37.385
9 Mahias Lucas 44 FRA 7 Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 43.566
10 Bassani Alex 47 ITA 6 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 43.836
11 Davies Chaz 7 GBR 5 Team GOELEVEN Ducati 48.102
12 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA 4 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 56.538
13 Laverty Eugene 50 IRE 3 RC Squadra Corse BMW 59.392
14 Mossey Luke 12 GBR 2 OUTDO Kawasaki TPR Kawasaki 1'01.922
15 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA 1 ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'22.275
16 Cresson Loris 84 BEL 0 TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki 1 Lap
17 Folger Jonas 94 GER 0 Bonovo MGM Racing BMW 2 Laps
18 Rabat Tito 53 SPA 0 BARNI Racing Team Ducati 10 Laps
19 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA 0 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 17 Laps
20 Redding Scott 45 GBR 0 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 22 Laps
21 Ponsson Christophe 23 FRA 0 Alstare Yamaha Yamaha 22 Laps
Location Information

Donington Park Circuit Castle Donington, Derby, DE74 2RP, United Kingdom Donington Park

POLE POSITION LEFT
LENGHT 4.023 Km
CORNERS 12
RIGHT CORNERS 7
LEFT CORNERS 5

Records

Pole Record 1'26.080 (168,248 Km/h) J.Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 2022)
Race Record 1'25.896 (168,609 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4, SPRC, 2023)
All Time Record 1'25.896 (168,609 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4, SPRC, 2023)
2023 Race 1 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4)
2023 Superpole Race Winner T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1)
2023 Race 2 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4)