The World Superbike Championship moves to the Czech Republic for Round 6 of the FIM World Championship and its looking likely to be another record breaking weekend.
Alvaro Bautista is only one podium short of reaching 100, he would be the 7th rider in history at this milestone after Jonathan Rea (264 podiums), Troy Corser (130), Toprak Razgatlioglu (127), Noriyuki Haga (116), Tom Sykes (114), Carl Fogarty (109).
As the list above implies, with three podiums Razgatlioglu will equal Corser at the 2nd all-time spot and has his shot at reaching the milestone of 50 WorldSBK wins as he currently sits at 48. BMW in the hands of Toprak have won 9 races so far this year, another 4 wins and that equal’s to the total amount of wins they had in the seasons 2009-2013 combined!
Last year in Most, Alvaro Bautista set the new record of season wins with 18 and ending the Championship at 27. This year he has won twice.
Alex Lowes is just three podiums short of his best season, being 2019 where he had 9. He has however already scored more points this season than the entire 2023 season.
After celebrating his 200th career podium at Most in 2021, Jonathan Rea will be looking to build on the positive weekend results of Donington Park. Ducati leads Yamaha for podiums at Most, 10-9. Only one Yamaha podium didn’t come from Toprak; a third place from Andrea Locatelli in 2021.
Hoping to keep his momentum going at Most, Rea stated: “It helps coming off the back of our strongest weekend of the season at Donington. I was able to get a podium and fight at the front. It’s hard to understand if we’ve really made that big step or was it the Donington effect. It’ll be nice to see if we can carry on that momentum here at Most.
All the ingredients are there to have a good weekend. It came at a good time because now we have some races in quick succession. It’s important to try and build that momentum, like a snowball, try to build confidence. I don’t feel we’re reaching our full performance yet, so it’s quite motivating that we’ve still got a way to go with myself and the bike. Racing is built on confidence, so the quicker we can get there, the better.”
Another who’s WorldSBK future is in the air is Scott Redding, who also comes to Most on the back of a successful, if not slightly frustrating Donington. “I’m very happy with how Donington went. Obviously, I had the small mechanical, but the pace was there, and I was able to come back in the next two races which was good for me and my confidence, knowing I could consistently be in that area.
Now, we’re at another circuit which I tend to like and have good history here, a lot of consistent memories. The step we made with the bike was part of the puzzle and coming to some circuits I feel I can ride quite well, so I’m looking forward to this weekend. The field is super tight this year so even if you’re going well, you can still be down the order. I’m hoping we can make that step and feel that rhythm we had with the bike at Donington….
If we can be knocking on the door of the top five again, that’s where I feel is acceptable. If you’re anywhere in the top five, you can be battling for a podium. As far as I’m concerned, I want to stay with BMW. That’s where I feel I should be, and I have the contract as well. I feel happy where I am, I feel content and I’m happy with the work BMW’s been doing. It’s interesting, it’s tough but I’m happy where I am, and I want to stay there.”
Still searching for the feel-good factor that he had last year, Bautista said: “I have good memories from last year because I could win my 50th race in the category. This year is different. The feeling with the bike is not the same as last year and we’re struggling more. Our approach is just to find something that allows us to ride as I want. We’re not in a position to think about any result. It’s always nice to arrive to that milestone (100 podiums). When I retire, I’ll see what I achieved or not. It’s more important to get the good feeling back than to get a podium.
Kerrie McFadden | First Turn Media – World Superbikes
Photos: Jason Neale
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