Winning ways in WorldSSP300 & WorldSSP with Pirelli

On the first day of races in the fourth round of the FIM World Superbike Championship on the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) remains the man to beat. The Ducati riding Spaniard took pole position with a new track lap record and then triumphed in Race 1 ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki). As for the tyres, the rear SCX development solution in B0800 compound, as had already happened in Assen, proved to be more popular than its standard counterpart, whereas the most used tyre at the front was the SC2.
In WorldSSP, it was yet another win – his fifth this year and third consecutive – for Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team), also on Ducati, ahead of German MV Agusta rider Marcel Schroetter and Turkish MV Agusta rider Bahattin Sofuoglu.
In WorldSSP300, the 2020 World Champion, Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki), was back to his winning ways, taking his first race since returning to the 300 championship. He finished ahead of Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing), second, and Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse), on the third step of the podium after starting from the nineteenth spot on the grid.

Another splendid performance for the SCX development solution

“As already occurred last round in Asses, in the first race of the Barcelona weekend, most of the Superbike riders put the SCX B0800 development tyre on at the rear, preferring it over the standard tyre, in this case with higher asphalt temperatures than in Holland. This is useful information for us which helps us reach another milestone in the overall assessment that we will need to conduct of this tyre at the end of the season to see whether it is actually an improvement from every point of view over the current reference SCX and, therefore, if it can become the new standard SCX in 2024. As for the front tyres, we expected that the SC0 would not be used much, on one hand because the riders don’t know it well enough to use it in the race, and on the other hand, because this is a rather demanding track for the front tyres in terms of wear. In Supersport, on the other hand, the 125/70 front, although not the most used, is beginning to gain more and more popularity among the riders. Congratulations to the winners today and we expect to see some good races tomorrow.”

• Despite the red flag, in Superpole, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) did the new track lap record in 1’40.264, clinching pole position. Outstanding performance by Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who achieved the second best time. Completing the front row of the grid was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was only eighth. To do their best times, all the riders used extra soft SCQ rear tyres. As for the front, the top three riders opted for the standard SC1. Qualifiers were held in the sun and with rather high asphalt temperatures, around 40°C.
• On the grid for Race 1, most of the riders used the SCX development solution in B0800 specification at the rear and the standard SC2 at the front, although various Ducati riders, including Álvaro Bautista, preferred the standard SC1 at the front.
• The race was red-flagged during the 4th lap. At the restart there were 17 laps to race. Álvaro Bautista rode a solitary race without ever losing the lead for a moment and finishing first with a gap of more than 8 seconds ahead of the closest followers. He also did the race fast lap on his third time around. Behind him, there was a much more heated battle for second between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea. The Yamaha rider came out on top in the end, finishing on the second step of the podium and relegating Rea to third place.

• In qualifying, which was conditioned by the red flag that came out 5 minutes from the end, Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) took his third consecutive pole position of the season with a time of 1’44.243. German rider Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) rounded out the front row. The session was held with asphalt temperatures ranging from 33°C to 36°C and all the riders put the SCX tyre on at the rear, whereas at the front, Bulega and Schroetter used the SC1 in the 120/70 size and Caricasulo used the larger 125/70.
• In WorldSSP Race 1, taking the rather high asphalt temperatures into consideration, all the riders chose to start with the softest rear solution, namely the SCX. At the front, most opted for the standard SC1 in the 120/70 size, but around ten riders preferred the larger 125/70 SC1. Winning the race was pole man Nicolò Bulega (Aruba Racing WorldSSP Team) who managed to defend the attacks by Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), finishing first ahead of the other MV Agusta, Marcel Schroetter, second, and the Turkish rider, third.