WorldSBK Estoril: Race preview

The 2022 WorldSBK season readies for an intense third round as title fight rivalries are set to reignite in Portugal.

Dramatic from the start, talking points aplenty and one of the championship’s fiercest rivalries, the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s opening two rounds have already seen plenty of action. It’s almost certain to continue as Circuito Estoril in Portugal welcomes WorldSBK for the third round of a titanic season.

Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) leads the way with an 18-point lead over Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea, whilst Pata Yamaha’s reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu is 45 behind, heading to a circuit where’s he’s the most successful out of anyone on the grid.

It’s been a sublime return to Ducati so far for Bautista, with three victories going his way and yet to finish a race off the podium. At Assen, when Razgatlioglu and Rea crashed, he avoided the chaos and picked up the pieces, retaking the lead in the championship with a gap of 18 points. However, Bautista arrives to Estoril, a circuit he has historically gone well at in the MotoGP World Championship paddock, on a Ducati for the first time. A blank canvas and no reference to 2019 may be useful as he has no comparison, but it may well take him longer to come to the fore compared to the others. Teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi chases a first podium of 2021, something he needs to assert himself as a contender early on in the year.

A mixed Motul Dutch Round sees Rea eager to return to the top step at Estoril; two wins but a costly DNF at Assen mean he is in an unfamiliar position after two events. However, he was a double race winner at Estoril in 2021, notably coming from behind in race two. With gains in the