Reigning World Superbikes champion Alvaro Bautista continued his dominance of the 2023 season as he raced to his 15th win of the season in Race 1 at Donington Park.
The Spaniard arrived in the UK with a record of 14 wins from 15 races so far this season, though no doubt mindful of Ducati's miserable record at the venue.
However, there was no stopping Bautista on this occasion, as he claimed his first-ever win at the famous circuit.
The Ducati driver didn't have things all his own way, however, and had to fend off Kawasaki man Jonathan Rea and Yahama's Toprak Razgatlioglu in an exciting battle for first place before ultimately coming out on top.
While it was Rea who started from pole, Bautista made the perfect start to grab the lead heading into the first corner.
Behind him, a collision between Garrett Gerloff and Bradley Ray sent both riders down.
Shortly after Michael Ruben Rinaldi ran off the track to drop into last place, his teammate Bautista made a rare mistake of his own to surrender the lead to Rea, while a slow exit out of turn nine saw Toprak Razgatlioglu move ahead of the Spaniard as well.
With Rea and Razgatlioglu battling it out for first place, Bautista quickly made his way back to where the action was taking place.
As Razgatlioglu overtook Rea for a second time at the start of lap eight, Bautista made his move on turn nine to take back second place and then used all of his superior straight-line speed to go around the outside of Razgatlioglu and return to the front on the very next lap.
From that point on, there was no stopping Bautista, as he gradually increased his lead before cruising to another comfortable win.
Razgatlioglu held on to second with Rea completing the podium.
Danilo Petrucci secured a strong fourth place for Barni Spark, ahead of Razgatlioglu's partner Andrea Locatelli and Rea's teammate Alex Lowes.
Axel Bassani finished in seventh for Motocorsa Ducati ahead of ROKiT BMW duo Scott Redding and Tom Sykes.
RESULTS
1 Alvaro Bautista ESP Aruba.it - Ducati 23 laps
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha Prometeon +3.718s
3 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team +6.115s
4 Danilo Petrucci ITA Barni Spark Racing Team +7.855s
5 Andrea Locatelli ITA Pata Yamaha Prometeon +10.738s
6 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team +11.143s
7 Axel Bassani ITA Motocorsa Ducati +12.025s
8 Scott Redding GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team +12.638s
9 Tom Sykes GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team +12.754s
10 Remy Gardner AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha Team +25.944s
11 Xavi Vierge ESP Team HRC +26.05s
12 Dominique Aegerter SUI GYTR GRT Yamaha Team +30.859s
13 Michael Rinaldi ITA Aruba.it - Ducati +31.558s
14 Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA GMT94 Yamaha +52.605s
15 Isaac Vinales ESP Pedercini Racing +56.037s
16 Tito Rabat ESP Kawasaki Puccetti +57.082s
17 Hafizh Syahrin MAS PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team +57.216s
18 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac Racing MOVISIO +1'00.969s
19 Eric Granado BRA PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team +1'16.479s
Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati DNF
Iker Lecuona ESP Team HRC DNF
Garrett Gerloff USA Bonovo Action BMW DNF
Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW DNF
Bradley Ray GBR Yamaha Motoxracing Team DNF