Ahead Of The Mandalika WSBK Race: Who Can Damage Alvaro Bautista's Dominance?

Aruba Ducati's driver, Alvaro Bautista. (Photo: Twitter/@WorldSBK)

JAKARTA - The Aruba Ducati racer, Alvaro Bautista, performed outstanding at the start of the 2023 World Superbike season (WSBK). He appeared dominant when eating the inaugural series in Australia, last weekend.

Bautista scored a hat trick and made him sit at the top of the WSBK drivers' standings. The former MotoGP rider is believed to continue the dominance in the second series which will take place at the Mandalika Circuit, this weekend.

Bautista's teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi also had a good first round of the season and is in third place in the standings, his best classification so far.

With the top five finishing at the Phillip Island Circuit, Australia, including third place in Race 2, Locatelli is in second place in the Championship standings, best position, with 34 points.

In 2022, he claims the third position in the Tissot Superpole Race and the fourth two places in the Mandalika long race, making the Yamaha one to watch out for at the Motul Indonesian Round.

After a surprising weekend in Australia, Jonathan Rea will seek to bounce back in Indonesia where he has a strong record, with five podiums in all five races held at the venue, including two wins in 2021.

Following his DNF in Race 2 on Phillip Island, Toprak Razgatlioglu will be eager to recover and rise in line, as it only scored 23 points during a trip in Australia, giving him a sixth place in the standings.

Mandalika is a special track for him, because he won the 2021 title in san. In addition, he also won in the 2022 edition.

The Mandalika Circuit will host the second round of WSBK 2023. On the sidelines of the competition, there will also be the first Supporting race Mandalika Racing Series.