Bautista will be looking for his third hat-trick of the year in Catalonia

Since 2020, the Catalunya round on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit has become an important event in the World Superbike calendar, the competition for motorcycles that originate from the series, and this weekend fans will have the opportunity to watch the usual three Superbike races and two from both Supersport and Supersport300.

In premier class Alvaro Bautista not only does he boast his number 1 on the track, but he continues his tyranny in 2023 with eight victories in nine races held. He reached the first of his two rounds at home – the other in Aragón on September 22-24 – with a 56-point advantage over the Turk Toprak Razgatlioglu and 70 on Yamaha Andrea Locatelli as well. The legend of the championship Jonathan Rhea, who rides for the Catalan Kawasaki Racing Team, is fifth, 101 points behind Bautista.

‘Bati’, who this Thursday got his renewal for another year, until 2024, with the aruba.it racing-Ducati team, achieved the triplet of wins in 2022 and with updates to the Panigale V4 R and a successful recent test in Montmeló all indicate that he can extend his streak. His Panigale numbers since entering the world championship in 2019 are legendary: 49.38% of the races he has run with Ducati have ended in victory. 40 wins and 66 podiums in total in five seasons counting in two, 2020 and 2021 he drove for Honda and his percentage fell -only three podiums-.

Catalunya SBK round schedules

friday
9:45 am WorldSSP300 – FP1
10:30 WorldSBK – FP1
11:25 WorldSSP – FP1
14:15 WorldSSP300 – FP2
15:00 WorldSBK – FP2
16:00 WorldSSP – FP2
Saturday
9:00. WorldSBK – FP3
9:45 WorldSSP300 – Superpole
10:25 WorldSSP – Superpole
11:10 WorldSBK – Superpole
12:40 WorldSSP300 – Race 1
14:00 WorldSBK – Race 1
15:15 WorldSSP – Race 1
Sunday
11:00 am WorldSBK – Superpole Race
12:30 WorldSSP – Race 2
14:00 WorldSBK – Race 2
15:15 WorldSSP300 – Race 2

While ruining his future after doing a Yamaha dee MotoGP test in Jerezthe Turk Toprak Razgatlioglu He remains second in the World Championship and you come from three podiums in Assen. He has yet to win at Montmeló despite leading the test in Race 1 last year, but he paid for front tire wear in the end, a classic when the temperature rises at Montmeló. The six-time champion Rea He arrives after two podiums in Assen, and he already won in Catalonia in 2020, when Bautista was racing for Honda. Rea will have new items on the chassis of his Kawasaki and this Thursday it was confirmed an update to the rev limit and concessions with immediate effect. In Kawasaki, they increase their rev limit by 250 rpm more while Ducati will lose them after doing the performance assessment of the bikes after the first ’round’. So the Ducati will go from 16,100 rpm to 15,850 and the Kawasaki will be 14,850 rpm.

Michael Ruben RinaldiBautista’s Aruba.it Racing–Ducati teammate has one win and two podiums in Montmeló, while alex is coming downRea’s Kawasaki Racing Team teammate, claimed a podium finish in 2022.

The Spanish representation is completed by two young riders from the official Honda team, Xavi Vierge and Iker Lekuona and Isaac Viñales, with a Kawasaki ZX-10RR from TPR of Viñales Racing. friday He scored his first WorldSBK podium this year in Race 2 at Mandalika. LecuonaFor his part, he arrives after running the MotoGP race in Jerez last weekend where he covered the loss of six-time champion Marc Márquez on Repsol Honda. The Valencian already has a podium on his SBK record, third in Race 2 at Assen last year.