2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Seven – Imola
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari returns to host the races of the FIM Superbike World Championship after a three-year absence on the calendar. Imola is a classic WorldSBK venue, offering thrilling races and a vibrant atmosphere. The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari carries a rich history and hosted some of the finest WorldSBK battles such as the Bayliss-Edwards’ Showdown in 2002.
Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), currently leading the Championship standings, will be eager to make his mark at Imola, Ducati’s home round. With solid past results at this circuit, including a third-place finish in the Tissot Superpole Race and a second-place finish in Race 1 in 2019, Bautista knows what it takes to excel on this demanding track as he looks to add valuable points to his championship campaign and claim his first victory at the historic circuit. Ducati have also lost 250 rpm from their rev-limit ahead of this round, but that is unlikely to make too much difference to the performance of the V4 R.
Alvaro Bautista
“It’s another important round for Ducati because it’s their second home round. It’s an important weekend for me as I don’t have a lot of experience in this track. I just raced here once, in 2019, and it was hard because we had to cancel Race 2 due to the weather. I have good memories of the track; the layout is really nice. There are no expectations because we have to build up the references and the feeling with the bike at this track. It was the same as I said at Donington. I think Donington, Imola and Most are the three most difficult races for us. We have to be thinking step by step. It’s difficult to make some expectations because it’s like we start from zero. The important thing is to find the feeling that I had at Donington or other tracks. I’m sure that if we can get that feeling, I can be competitive. This is a track that we saw many battles in the past. The only expectation that we can have for this weekend are battles. I don’t know whether it’ll be for the win or the podium or other positions but there will be battles because there are a lot of points for overtaking. The way to approach the weekend is basically the same. We must be more careful with the gearing because, in the end, it’s the most critical. We have to try to understand which areas we lose more in and try to work more in those areas.”
Meanwhile, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) is on the verge of a significant milestone as he stands at 99 podium finishes. Imola presents a golden opportunity for him to reach the impressive milestone of 100 podiums. Despite it being his first time racing at Imola with Yamaha, Razgatlioglu will be pushing hard to achieve this feat and continue his strong form at Imola.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu
“I have good memories at Imola from 2015, fighting with Federico Caricasulo for the win in European Superstock 600 Championship! This time will be my first time with Yamaha – I think we can do a good job, because I love it this track. I like it when there are corners you cannot see – you enter the corner blind – I like these old school tracks and it has some hard braking! In Imola, Johnny was very strong in the past, but I will try to do my best. It’s never possible to say what will happen before the race! We will see, but I want to be fighting again for the win.”
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), currently holds third position in the championship standings and will take on Imola for the first time with a Superbike.
Andrea Locatelli
“I rode in Imola but it was many years ago! We will see what will happen during the weekend, for sure we will find some difficult conditions because it will be very hot – so we need to be ready for this and stay focused. Imola is interesting but I always liked the layout, especially when I rode in the Italian Championship (CIV Moto3) and won the race there in 2013 so I have good memories. We need to start working well from Friday to prepare for the weekend. Many riders have never seen this track, but riders like Johnny know this track very well – so it’s important to go into Friday with everything ready to be fast from Race 1 and continue to get good results. It’s nice to have another Italian race, it’s very different from Misano! Lots of up and down, hard braking and the chicane – we’ll try to enjoy it and get the maximum.”
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will be aiming to climb up the championship standings. Imola has been a happy hunting ground for Rea in the past, with his exceptional record at this circuit including 9 victories (among them the last four WorldSBK races at Imola). As he looks to close the gap in the championship race, Rea will spare no effort in his pursuit of success and he will benefit from the raising of the ZX-10RR rpm limit by 250 rpm from this round onwards.
Jonathan Rea
“When I saw Imola was back on the calendar I was already looking forward to this one. It is a great track with a real atmosphere. You feel very close to the fans, especially with the paddock being so closely-knit and intimate. The circuit is steeped in history. It has a nice layout, undulations and some of the most iconic sections of track in the world. I am looking forward to getting there and we have good memories from 2019. With a lot of data I hope we can start Friday with a strong set-up and continue being competitive, like we were at Donington last time out. It is important to try to stay on the podium and try to score some good points for our championship battles, because we will move on to Most soon after. These next two rounds, in Italy and the Czech Republic, mark a part of the championship where we want to capitalise and be strong. I cannot wait to get stuck in.”
Rea’s KRT team-mate Alex Lowes is yet to score a podium at Imola but has already taken a top-three finish this season, at Mandalika, in early March.
Alex Lowes
“Imola is an historic track which has seen some amazing WorldSBK battles, most notably the Edwards/Bayliss scrap to decide the championship during the 2002 season. The layout itself is quite challenging with fast and slow changes of direction and also some elevations and drops. We haven’t ridden there since 2019 but it is a track I really enjoy. It is an ‘old school’ style of circuit, which is quite challenging physically, especially in the hot temperatures that have been forecast for race weekend. My target, as always, is to get off to a good start on Friday so we can challenge for the podiums on Saturday and Sunday – and of course have some fun.”
Another rider to watch out for is Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), who recently celebrated his first podium finish at Donington Park. Competing on home soil, the Italian rider will strive to build on his recent success and deliver a strong performance at Imola.
Danilo Petrucci
“It’s really special because I haven’t been to Imola since 2011. However, I was already with Barni Racing and I have good memories. I can’t wait to ride again on the track again, because it’s one of the most beautiful around the world. Nothing is chosen about my future; as I said at Donington Park and at the start of 2023, I want to win a race here. I am here to do that. With Alvaro, Toprak and Jonny and others, it’s difficult. Maybe I need one more year to try and win and be more consistent in the Championship. After the podium at Donington Park, we want to repeat that performance but we will see because both at Donington Park and Misano, we had a new track surface. This time, we’ll have something a bit more normal, so it’s a good test for us to see if we can fight for the podium regularly. It would be a dream to get a podium here.”
GYTR GRT Yamaha rookies Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner have never ridden the Imola track on two wheels, but both are eager to enjoy a good weekend on Italian soil.
Remy Gardner
“This will be my first time in Imola; as happened in Donington, it looks like a very special track, another old school one with a lot of history. The layout seems nice to me, and we’ll try to quickly adapt from Friday to enjoy a strong weekend. Luckily the weather should be settled, but we should pay attention to the hot conditions as well. We’re ready for it.”
Dominique Aegerter
“We hope to continue our progress in Imola and to enjoy a good weekend. It’ll be a new track for me, completely. I went there some weeks ago with the cars to learn the circuit, but it’ll be my very first time on two wheels. I like the layout; it’s tricky, with up and downs, blind corners, but it looks nice. Thankfully we should find stable weather conditions, so we’ll be able to work on our Yamaha R1 machine from Friday onwards. I can’t wait to be there.”
The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team will aim to carry forward their momentum after Scott Redding’s solid fourth-place finish in Race 2 at Donington Park but the Briton has never raced at Imola before.
Scott Redding
“This is a place that I want to have fun at. The track looks so iconic and there’s a lot of history here; I did a couple of laps with the bicycle last night and I had goosebumps. A motorcycle could always be different but it just looks amazing. The trees, buildings, up and downs, I’m really excited to go and ride this track. It’d be nice if the bike was nice to me this weekend and I didn’t have to focus so much on the settings and I could just focus on riding the track. I think on Sunday, there’ll be an announcement of where I’m going and what I’m doing for 2024.”
With Tom Sykes out injured, Leon Haslam will step in the breech for Imola. Haslam is no stranger to BMW Motorrad Motorsport and the WorldSBK. The 40-year-old Briton has competed in a total of 316 WorldSBK races between 2003 and 2022, finishing as runner-up in the championship in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, he raced as a BMW Motorrad Motorsport factory rider with the BMW S 1000 RR, earning a total of eight podium finishes. In the current 2023 season, Haslam competes with the ROKiT BMW Motorrad British Superbike Team aboard the BMW M 1000 RR in the British Superbike Championship (BSB), where he has already achieved six podium finishes, including two at the recent round at Snetterton (GBR).
Leon Haslam
“It’s a fantastic opportunity. Obviously I have a lot of history with Imola. We took the championship in 2010 down to the last round at Imola. I have a lot of history from this circuit and it’s fantastic to ride again for BMW Motorrad Motorsport. We are riding the BMW M 1000 RR in the UK so I’m looking forward to work with Shaun Muir and all the guys from the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team. We will see. I have no real big expectations, I just want to try to enjoy and hopefully we can get some good information and some good results.”
Team HRC and riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge have no previous knowledge of the track, and so the pair will be looking to hit the ground running in Friday’s practices. Although Donington failed to live up to the riders’ expectations in terms of race results, this only makes Team HRC more determined as it heads into this seventh round confident that it can do well. In the championship standings, Vierge currently places tenth but is only ten points from the sixth-placed rider, testament to just how close the competition is this season.
Xavi Vierge
“Imola follows on from a weekend that had its ups and down, but our motivation is intact and we’re ready to work hard to get the best out of the next round. After Donington, we took part in two days of testing at Suzuka, two busy days where conditions constantly changed, but I really enjoyed it and feel it has given me an extra boost to fight hard to reach our goals. Imola is a new track for me of course, and I hope that it works for us as the Italian tracks generally do! As always when heading to a new track, I try to work a lot before I arrive, watching videos and trying to learn the circuit on a simulator, which, although on four wheels, is a really good way to check out the layout. So I think I’m as ready as I can be and now let’s see what we can do!”
Iker Lecuona
“It’s a busy period right now, switching from one world to the other – from WorldSBK to MotoGP, the Suzuka 8 hours test and now straight on to a new track! But I’m enjoying myself and am looking forward to this new challenge. I know literally nothing about Imola, I’ve never been there and never watched a race there, but learning a new track is normally not that challenging for me, a track is a track! It will be really important to work well on the bike, quickly find the way in terms of setup and have a clear direction to follow throughout the weekend. I’m ready and waiting to kick off a new weekend.”
Michael van der Mark hopes to come back, but will only do so if he’s feeling fit enough, while Garrett Gerloff will make his debut at Imola.
Garrett Gerloff
“It’s going to be an interesting weekend, I think. It’s a track that I’ve never been to and it looks like it could be technical. But I feel good learning new layouts and this circuit being mainly a left-hand corner dominant one with some elevation changes and being tighter, it kind of reminds me of the tracks I raced in America a lot. I’m hoping this connection is a solid one and it does help me to learn it a bit faster, but I think there’s going to be a few people that haven’t been there or at least haven’t been there for a while. I just hope it will be a good weekend and we can keep improving like we did at Donington.”
Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti racing) will ride for his Italian-based team once more, this time at the second home round for the Puccetti squad, which is based in Reggio Emilia – a relatively short drive along the Autostrada network from Imola.
World Superbike Championship Points
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | Alvaro Bautista | 357 |
2 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | 264 |
3 | Andrea Locatelli | 175 |
4 | Jonathan Rea | 163 |
5 | Axel Bassani | 146 |
6 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | 102 |
7 | Alex Lowes | 99 |
8 | Danilo Petrucci | 98 |
9 | Dominique Aegerter | 97 |
10 | Xavi Vierge | 92 |
11 | Remy Gardner | 69 |
12 | Iker Lecuona | 66 |
13 | Scott Redding | 63 |
14 | Garrett Gerloff | 61 |
15 | Philipp Oettl | 52 |
16 | Michael Van Der Mark | 19 |
17 | Loris Baz | 13 |
18 | Tom Sykes | 11 |
19 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | 9 |
20 | Bradley Ray | 8 |
21 | Hafizh Syahrin | 8 |
22 | Isaac Vinales | 1 |
23 | Ivo Miguel Lopes | 1 |
WorldSSP
Leading the WorldSSP championship charge is Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), who has showcased exceptional consistency and speed throughout the season, including a double at Donington Park. His tally of 247 points gives him a 55-point advantage over his closest rival.
Bulega expressed his anticipation for the upcoming race at Imola in an interview with worldsbk.com, stating, “Now, we are already focused on Imola. The last time I rode there was in 2023 when I was 13 years old, riding in pre-GP with a 35-horsepower bike! Now, it will be a different story with World Supersport! But as I said, I’m in a good moment because I can ride my bike the way I want to. We’ll try to have fun there at home!”
Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), currently sitting in second place in the Championship standings, is determined to close the gap to Bulega and secure a victory of his own. The battle between Bulega and Manzi is set to intensify at Imola, as both riders seek to gain valuable championship points.
There is also an intense duel unfolding, as Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) and Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) are locked in a fight for third spot in the championship standings. Caricasulo has a notable history at Imola, with two podium places claimed in Supersport in 2018 and 2019, while Schroetter will race there for the first time.
Oli Bayliss will be looking to capitalise on his recent strides forward with set-up while Tom Edwards and Luke Power will be looking to improve their standing in the separate cup for competitors only contesting the European rounds.
World Supersport Championship Points
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | Nicolo Bulega | 247 |
2 | Stefano Manzi | 192 |
3 | Federico Caricasulo | 156 |
4 | Marcel Schroetter | 156 |
5 | Niki Tuuli | 93 |
6 | Glenn Van Straalen | 89 |
7 | Bahattin Sofuoglu | 84 |
8 | Valentin Debise | 80 |
9 | Jorge Navarro | 77 |
10 | Can Oncu | 63 |
11 | Yari Montella | 60 |
12 | Adrian Huertas | 58 |
13 | Nicholas Spinelli | 57 |
14 | Raffaele De Rosa | 55 |
15 | Tom Booth-Amos | 33 |
16 | John Mcphee | 31 |
17 | Oliver Bayliss | 26 |
18 | Simone Corsi | 23 |
19 | Lucas Mahias | 21 |
20 | Tarran Mackenzie | 15 |
21 | Tom Edwards | 15 |
22 | Anupab Sarmoon | 14 |
23 | Adam Norrodin | 9 |
24 | Andrea Mantovani | 9 |
25 | Harry Truelove | 5 |
26 | Apiwath Wongthananon | 4 |
27 | Andy Verdoia | 3 |
28 | Marco Bussolotti | 2 |
29 | Rhys Irwin | 1 |
30 | Federico Fuligni | 1 |
31 | Adrian Fernandez Gonzalez | 1 |
WorldSSP300
The WorldSSP300 riders are gearing up for an exciting round at the historic Imola circuit, known for its challenging layout and rich motorsports history. The Prometeon Italian Round will present a fresh and thrilling experience for most of the riders on the 2023 grid. Among the competitors, Jeffrey Buis (MTM Racing) and Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo-Pl Performances) stand out as the only riders who have previously raced at Imola in the WorldSSP300 series.
Leading the championship is Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) from Italy, who has showcased exceptional consistency throughout the season. With a total of 86 points, Gennai has consistently finished among the top contenders, securing victories and valuable podium finishes. Chasing closely behind is Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) with just one point separating him from the top spot. German rider Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) is currently third in the standings with 71 points. Geiger has showcased remarkable consistency with several top-five finishes and valuable points in every race.
Following his remarkable performance at Misano, where he claimed two victories as a wildcard rider, Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) will once again grace the track at Imola as a wildcard.
World Supersport 300 Championship Points
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | Mirko Gennai | 86 |
2 | Petr Svoboda | 85 |
3 | Dirk Geiger | 71 |
4 | Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez | 67 |
5 | Samuel Di Sora | 65 |
6 | Humberto Maier | 65 |
7 | Jeffrey Buis | 54 |
8 | Matteo Vannucci | 54 |
9 | Bruno Ieraci | 50 |
10 | Marco Gaggi | 39 |
11 | Enzo Valentim | 34 |
12 | Fenton Seabright | 25 |
13 | Daniel Mogeda | 24 |
14 | Loris Veneman | 22 |
15 | Kevin Sabatucci | 22 |
16 | Galang Hendra Pratama | 19 |
17 | Julio Garcia | 15 |
18 | Devis Bergamini | 14 |
19 | Jose Manuel Osuna Saez | 10 |
20 | Ruben Bijman | 9 |
21 | Alessandro Zanca | 5 |
22 | Yeray Saiz Marquez | 3 |
23 | Lennox Lehmann | 1 |
24 | Troy Alberto | 1 |
WorldSBK Imola Schedule
(AEST)
Time | Class | Event |
Friday | ||
1700 | R3 bLU cRU Cup | FP1 |
1745 | WorldSSP300 | FP1 |
1830 | WorldSBK | FP1 |
1925 | WorldSSP | FP1 |
2130 | R3 bLU cRU Cup | Superpole |
2215 | WorldSSP300 | FP2 |
2300 | WorldSBK | FP2 |
0000 (Sat) | WorldSSP | FP2 |
Saturday | ||
1700 | WorldSBK | FP3 |
1745 | WorldSSP300 | Superpole |
1825 | WorldSSP | Superpole |
1910 | WorldSBK | Superpole |
1945 | R3 bLU cRU Cup | R1 |
2040 | WorldSSP300 | R1 |
2200 | WorldSBK | R1 |
2315 | WorldSSP | R1 |
0015 (Sun) | R3 bLU cRU Cup | R2 |
Sunday | ||
1700 | WorldSBK | WUP |
1725 | WorldSSP | WUP |
1750 | WorldSSP300 | WUP |
1900 | WorldSBK | SPRace |
2030 | WorldSSP | R2 |
2200 | WorldSBK | R2 |
2315 | WorldSSP300 | R2 |
2023 FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar | ||||
Date | Circuit | WSBK | WSSP600 | WSSP300 |
14-16 Jul | Imola | X | X | X |
28-30 Jul | Autodrom Most | X | X | X |
8-10 Sep | Magny-Cours | X | X | X |
22-24 Sep | Aragón | X | X | X |
29-Sep-01 Oct | Algarve | X | X | X |
13-15 Oct | San Juan Villicum | X | X |