The Superbike World Championships is back in action for a second straight week. After opening its 36th season this past weekend in Australia, the circuit moves to Indonesia. The Mandalika International Street Circuit, located in the Mandalika resort area on Lombok Island, will take place on March 4 and 5.
Defending world champion Alvaro Bautista dominated at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit last weekend, winning all three races. Can Bautista continue his excellent form and win at the Mandalika International Street Circuit for the first time? The following is a look at the best Superbike Odds and some potential favorites for the weekend.
Alvaro Bautista
Bautista was brilliant in winning all three rounds in a thrilling and extremely wet Australian race weekend. After winning Race 1 at Phillips Island by 3.4 seconds, the 38-year-old Spaniard turned in a masterful performance as he led nearly wire-to-wire in Race 2. He recorded the fastest lap on Sunday and leads the promotion with 62 points.
Bautista has won his last five races dating back to last season and a circuit-best 19 races since the beginning of the 2022 campaign. However, Bautista has yet to win in five races in Indonesia, although he did finish second in the two primary races last year. Still, he has to be the favorite this weekend due to his superb form.
Jonathan Rea
Rea is coming off a relatively disappointing weekend in Australia, finishing seventh in the Super Race and eighth in Race 2. But he did finish second, finishing 3.4 seconds behind Bautista, in Race one, leading 10 laps while also recording the fastest lap. Rea has won just six times since the beginning of the 2022 campaign.
Still, the six-time Superbike World Champion is very much a contender here. Rea took both races in the inaugural Indonesia Superbike event two years ago and posted two third-place and one second-place finish last year
Toprak Razgatlioglu
Like Bautista and Rea, Razgatlioglu should be a major player in Indonesia as long as he doesn’t have any residue effects from his wreck in Race 2 last week. The 26-year-old won the pole in Australia and finished third in Race 1 and the Super Race before recording a DNF in the final event. The 2021 Superbike world champion finished second in points last year and owns 32 career wins with the promotion.
He has three wins, sweeping last year’s event, and one second-place finish in his five starts on the Mandalika International Street Circuit.
Dominique Aegerter
Aegerter didn’t have the Superbike debut he wanted, but he didn’t turn in the fastest lap in Race 1 of the Phillips Island event. The 32-year-old Swiss native, who is 12th in points, came over to Superbike with high hopes after winning the MotoE World Cup Championship in 2022. He won five times and finished on the podium in 18 of 26 starts last year. Aegerter is someone to consider.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Rinaldi is a long shot here as he is very inconsistent. However, he finished second in the Super Race and Race 2 last weekend. The 27-year-old Italian has four career Superbike wins though his last came in 2021.