The world superbike faces this weekend its last stop in European territory and Álvaro Bautista has Portugal the opportunity to leave seen for sentence the championship of the derivatives of the series. Spanish dominates with 59 points ahead of Razgatlioglu and 67 over Rea and when the World Cup leaves the Autodromo Internacional de Algarve there will be 186 at stake. A distance to be able to run with a calculator in hand in the last three events, Argentina, Indonesia and Australia.
Everything passes for a good result in Portugal, where the Ducati-Bautista binomial starts again as favorite. After the spectacular hat-trick at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalonia, the rider from Talave will seek to benefit from the finish line in Portimao to make the most of the Panigale. The regularity of the 19 is being one of the keyssince of the 24 races that have been held this season, 21 have seen Bautista on the podium, with a total of 11 victories and only two zeros in his locker, the first race at Donington and the second at Magny Cours, after his controversial touch with Rea.
And from now on, teamwork becomes another key factor. Rinaldi, a teammate on the other side of the garage, can play a fundamental role in the fight for the title, since all the points that he can add will not go to the Turk or the Northern Irishman. The Italian achieved a second position in race 2 in Barcelona that moved the Yamaha and Kawasaki a little further. Locatelli and Lowes, meanwhile, Toprak and Rea’s squires, are one step behind Rinaldi.
Jorge Navarro moves to SuperSport
In SuperSport Aegerter defends a 36-point advantage over Baldassarri and will want to celebrate his announced jump to SBK in 2023 in Portugal at the hands of GYTR GRT Yamaha, where he will team up with Remy Gardner, from MotoGP. The Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, champion with the Swiss in 2021 and on track to repeat victory in 2022, will go to Jorge Navarro, who changes Moto2 for the 600 of the WorldSBK. “We are still in the race for the 2022 title, but this already sets the stage for 2023. We hope to complete the first tests with Jorge after the end of the current season,” said the team owner.
One point will make Álvaro Díaz champion in SSP300
And finally, in SSP300 Álvaro Díaz (Arco Motor University Team) will be champion of the category if he scores a point or if Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) does not prevail in the two races in Portugal. Thus, it will extend the Spanish domain in the small class, which has seen four Spanish champions in its five editions: Marc García, Ana Carrasco, Manu González, Jeffrey Buis and Adrián Huertas.