Reigning World Superbike champion Alvaro Bautista started the defence of his title with a victory as he dominated the opening race of the 2023 season at Phillip Island in Australia.
The race took place in full wet conditions after rain started to come down during the earlier Superpole session, which saw Toprak Razgatlioglu grab pole.
But Bautista made the perfect start to the race on his Ducati and immediately snatched the lead from the Yamaha rider.
Kawasaki rider Jonathan Rea had also come through into second, however, and he would soon snatch the lead from Bautista at turn one.
Meanwhile, Razgatlioglu was still struggling for pace, leading to contact between him and Alex Lowes, with the British rider taking third.
BMW rider Michael van der Mark suffered a nasty highside crash on lap two but suffered no serious injury.
Razgatlioglu then began to improve in the tricky conditions and took back third place from Lowes.
Up ahead, Rea's lead over Baustista was beginning to crumble as Bautista's speed improved, and the Spaniard would eventually snatch the lead with a clever move at 'Stoner corner' on lap ten.
Bautista nearly cost himself a chance at victory as he nearly suffered the same fate as Van Der Mark at turn eight, though he was able to avoid serious disaster and began to extend his lead.
Behind him, Lowes crashed out of P4 at turn two, while Rea only narrowly avoided a crash of his own as he came around on the exit of turn ten.
That mistake cost him any chance of trying to pressure Bautista in the closing stages, as the world champion held on to make the perfect start to the 2023 season.
Results
1 Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.It Racing Ducati 22 Laps
2 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +3.471s
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +6.168s
4 Andrea Locatelli ITA PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +16.789s
5 Axel Bassani ITA Motocorsa Ducati +20.918s
6 Iker Lecuona SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +27.015s
7 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Ducati Team +30.383s
8 Xavi Vierge SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +30.625s
9 Scott Redding GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +37.447s
10 Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW +42.591s
11 Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati +44.142s
12 Remy Gardner AUS GRT Yamaha +48.833s
13 Dominique Aegerter SWI GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team +51.617s
14 Michael Rinaldi ITA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +55.010s
15 Hafizh Syahrin MAL MIE Honda Racing +1'15.223s
16 Eric Granado BRA MIE Honda Racing +1'17.459s
17 Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA GMT94 Yamaha +1'20.226s
18 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW +1 Lap
19 Tom Sykes GBR Puccetti Kawasaki DNF
20 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK DNF
21 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac Racing Kawasaki DNF
22 Michael Van Der Mark NED BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team DNF