The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Czech Round weekend saw riders across the three categories go to battle at the Autodrom Most for every available point as their title races continue to heat up. Across each of these categories, four riders distinguished themselves on track; some impressed with strong results to kick-start their season after a slower jump off the line, while others got things back on track after season-opening success but a relative results drought since then.
BREAKTHROUGH FOR BRIDEWELL AND BASSANI
Tommy Bridewell (Superbikes Advocates) rides away from Most, having clocked in his career-best WorldSBK round. The British rider made his WorldSBK debut back in 2008 as a wildcard at Portimao, and since then, across four seasons spanning 15 years, he has stepped back into the paddock as a replacement or test rider while competing primarily in BSB. The 2023 BSB Champion joined the WorldSBK paddock as part of the all-new Superbike Advocates team, and prior to Most, he and the team had been hanging around the cusp of the point-scoring positions, but in Czechia, they found another gear. His weekend started strong, his Race 1 P13 matching his second-best result of the season, but the best was yet to come. A thunderous opening sector before a consistent pace sent Bridewell all the way up to P8, a big improvement from his previous best of P11 at Imola back in 2019. Closing the weekend in P10, he bagged a total of 11 points and will look to keep growing at Aragon.
Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) bounced back in a big way at Most from what has been a series of slower rounds compared to his storming double podium to open the season at Phillip Island. ‘El Bocia’ landed his best result of the weekend straight out of the gate in P5 in Race 1, gritting his teeth and holding onto his P7 position through the tricky opening chicane amid a sea of riders vying for position, before on Lap 4, he moved past Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) and Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) on Lap 7. From Lap 9 to Lap 14, he held sub-1’31.5s pace, before finishing strong with worn tyres posting sub-1’31.8s times until the final lap, consistency that his rivals behind him couldn’t match. The Tissot Superpole Race was the only event he fell outside the top eight, finishing P13, before a solid Race 2 saw him up to P8 from his P11 grid position. Race 1 and Race 2 results are the first time he’s landed back in the top eight since Portimao, and it’s an important confirmation of pace for the #47 after a difficult series of rounds.
BAYLISS BACK ON THE ROSTRUM
Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) was back with a vengeance at Most after crashing and finished in P26 in Race 1 and was later ruled out of competition in Race 2 at Most with an elbow contusion. Most, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, opening the round with a P6 finish, his second-best result so far of the season. Race 2 was his real gem of the round. Starting back in P8, he took a step forward to P7 after the Lap 1 melee, but when Indonesian rider Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) made his way past on Lap 2, he found himself stuck behind the #57. His charge up the order began rather innocuously as he and Mahendra both gained a place with the controversial contact between Arenas and Masia. By Lap 7, he had climbed to P6, when he and teammate Tom Booth-Amos began to battle with Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) as well, and Bayliss was the last man standing after both riders saw gravel on the last lap.
IERACI PUTS TRIUMPH ON THE BOARD
World Supersport wasn’t the only category to feature a strong performance from Triumph machinery, as Bruno Ieraci (CM Triumph Factory Racing) landed Triumph’s first ever podium in WorldSPB. He landed in P8 for what was the second-worst result of his season so far, but critically, his 1’39.681s Lap 6 saw him start Race 2 from pole position. In Race 2, the #18 fought at the front from lights out until the chequered flag, falling down as low as P4 on two separate occasions, but battling back each time to lead the race again. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) found a way past to snatch the race win away from the Italian, but with his first podium in the books, he and his team have found a promising direction from which they can continue
Tune in next round on May 29th for the first day of action at MotorLand Aragon! Watch Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass, now 30% off!