Bautista claims another victory in Barcelona opener

In the first race at Barcelona on Saturday, Alvaro Bautista, riding for Ducati, achieved his ninth triumph in the 2023 season of World Superbike.

During the restarted 17-lap race, Bautista, who was on pole position, effortlessly won after an initial red flag caused by Eric Granado's accident.

Despite Ducati being given a reduced rev limit of 250rpm at the beginning of the weekend, Bautista comfortably won the race on his V4 Panigale.

Toprak Razgatlioglu of Yamaha secured second place after a closely fought battle with Jonathan Rea of Kawasaki, finishing nearly nine seconds behind Bautista.

The fourth and fifth positions were claimed by Andrea Locatelli and Dominique Aegerter, both Yamaha riders.

The second factory Ducati ridden by Michael Ruben Rinaldi was involved in a collision with the satellite machine of Axel Bassani and was eliminated from the race.

Bassani was handed a long lap penalty but still finished in seventh place.

Scott Redding of BMW and Lorenzo Baldassarri of GRT Yamaha both crashed out at Turn 10 during the restart, while Alex Lowes of Kawasaki also fell later on.