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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship visited the Autodrom Most and the 2023 Acerbis Czech Round was just as dramatic as the previous two visits, with records broken this year, a long wait for a win came to an end and a potentially title-deciding crash in Race 2. Rain caused chaos in Race 1 which led to a multitude of differing strategies as riders looked to master the wet conditions, while it was dry in Race 2 which led to a battle for the ages between the two title contenders.

THE DROUGHT ENDS IN THE RAIN: inspired intermediate tyre gamble for Rea in Race 1

Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) last win came in 2022 at the season-ending Australian Round, in a rain-affected Race 1. After a difficult 2023 for him and Kawasaki so far, with eight podiums in 21 races, but no wins heading into the Czech Round, the #65 had started changing expectations and targets to the podium. When the rain fell shortly before Race 1, it was a golden opportunity for the six-time Champion, and he took full advantage. Pushing like mad in the opening stages on intermediate tyres, when the rain tyres were quicker, he was in a position to move to the front when riders pitted to ditch their rain tyres for slicks. He was slower than the slick tyre runners, but his first laps meant he had enough of a gap to end his 252-day drought without a win and return to the top step.

SUBDUED ON SATURDAY, STUNNING ON SUNDAY: Bautista turns it around to make history

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started the weekend off the pace and ended it by writing his name into the history books. Sixth on Friday after two practice sessions and only 14^th in Tissot Superpole – albeit he had a faster lap deleted for yellow flags – meant he was on the back foot. He scored 12^th in Race 1 after opting to start on the wet tyres and lost the best part of 20 seconds while pitting. However, he turned it around on Sunday. A last lap move on Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) moved him into third in the Superpole Race and, after a mega fight with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in Race 2, claimed victory. It was a milestone 50^th win for the Spaniard and it was also his 18^th of the season: a new record, beating the previous of 17 held by Jonathan Rea (2018, 2019) and Doug Polen (1991).

BMW AND HONDA SURGE UP THE ORDER: top five in Race 1 for both

Both BMW and Honda have had challenging 2023 campaigns so far without making the progress they would’ve liked, but the Czech Round gave them a beacon of hope after strong performances. Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took fourth in Race 1 after starting from the pitlane to change from wets to intermediate tyres, while Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) was fifth after he started on the intermediates. In Race 2, there was little to separate BMW and Honda on-track with Redding in eighth and Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) in ninth as their battle for fourth in the Manufacturers’ Championship continues; just one point separates them.

MOMENTUM BACK IN RED: Razgatlioglu’s Race 2 crash hands 25-point swing to the #1

Bautista and Razgatlioglu had been engaging in an epic battle during Race 2 but it all came to an end on Lap 17 when the #54 crashed after he suffered blistering on his rear tyre while running in P1. Instead of the gap between Bautista and Razgatlioglu being potentially as low as 44 points had Razgatlioglu won, or perhaps 54 if Bautista took victory with the Yamaha star in P2, the gap opened to 74 points heading into the summer break. The 2021 Champion had almost halved it across the Italian and Czech Rounds before his Race 2 crash and, while there are still plenty of twists to come, the momentum is firmly back in the red corner.

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