[Moto] SBK World Championship Australia 2024: start with surprises

[Noticias ALEJANDRO]

As if it were necessary, this year the Superbike World Championship has several more attractions: the brand change of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Johnathan Rea, the arrival of Andrea Iannone and Nicolò Bulega, in addition to the new regulations that force our Álvaro Bautista to race with the ballasted motorcycle.

Second race SBK Australia 2024
Toprak had to retire at the beginning because the engine of his BMW, in the middle of a large cloud of smoke, gave out its soul, while Jonathan Rea went to the ground, evacuated on a stretcher, fortunately conscious and with 17 laps to go, red flag !

The race resumed with 11 laps and Álvaro Bautista on the last lap had to defend himself from the attacks of Alex Lowes and Andrea Locatelli. Lowes and Locatelli touched each other and the Italian fell to the ground. The Briton made a masterful overtake on the Spaniard to achieve victory, with Bautista second and Petrucci third.

 

 

Superpole SBK Australia 2024 Race
A test with only 10 laps and on Phillip Island, it can only be not suitable for the faint of heart... Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) achieved his first victory in four years. The British rider, after Jonathan Rea's move to Yamaha, has inherited Pere Riba as coach, which seems to have given him wings.

The fight for second place was a neck and neck but in the final laps Andrea Locatelli managed to pull away a little. Toprak Razgatlioglu and Álvaro Bautista played for the last step on the podium which, in the end, went to the brand new BMW driver, his first place with the German brand. The two-time Spanish world champion can be happy because, after a difficult Race 1, he has returned to the front positions.

 

 

 

First race SBK Australia 2024 (Saturday)
Nicolò Bulega is an example, one more, that you should never give up. After his time in the Moto2 World Championship, the young man who experts considered the new Valentino became a finished rider. He moved on to World Supersport, where last year he became world champion.

The wonderful Phillip Island circuit has been resurfaced and has so much grip that Race Management decided that the drivers would change tires in the middle of the race for safety reasons, which gave a little more incentive to the competitions.

The first race was for Nicolò Bulega (Ducati), who made his debut in the premier category with a victory. How far can the rookie go this season? But he not only won the victory, but he did it with authority. Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) was second and Andrea Iannone (Ducati) third. After four years away from the tracks, Iannone has been able to do it all: new World Championship, new bike and new tires.

Álvaro Bautista, the two-time world champion, suffered a crash without consequences to finish fifteenth, a bad start for the Talavera de la Reina rider.

Click here to see all the classifications.

 

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