The long winter period may be in full swing but there is still time to look back at the 2023 WorldSBK Championship season as BSN brings you our rundown of the Top 10 WorldSBK Riders of the Year.

And the winner is...

There is dominance in motorcycle racing and then there is emphatic, inch-perfect steamrolling dominance... and that was just the first-half of Alvaro Bautista's extraordinary 2023 WorldSBK Championship winning campaign.

The combination of the Spaniard, the well-oiled Aruba.it Racing team and the updated Ducati Panigale V4 R package was an imperious example of elements - already well-proven - reaching a new level of excellence in 2023.

The statistics make for eye-watering reading. Even taking WorldSBK's modern day format of three races per weekend, Bautista's 28 victories from 36 races re-writes numerous single season records by right.

Not that his campaign was made to look easy as Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea kept him honest simply by retaining a metronomic presence behind him, ready to punish any mistake from Bautista while ensuring they didn't commit any of their own.

However, for the most part, Bautista was in control from start-to-finish, understanding his moments to capitalise on his Ducati's strengths. The Panigale V4 R's strengths in acceleration and performance are well publicised, but while they are attributes that get the overtakes done, it was also kind enough to the tyres to let him pull clear to the flag.

It a reason for one of the more compelling points of note from Bautista's season, the fact he was a race winner in at least one race from each of the 12 events - an all-round ability that speaks volumes for Bautista himself, his machine, the team around him and the power of all three combined.

BSN’s Top 10 WorldSBK Riders of 2023

2 - Toprak Razgatlioglu

3 - Axel Bassani

4 - Jonathan Rea

5 - Danilo Petrucci

6 - Andrea Locatelli

7 - Michael Ruben Rinaldi

8 - Garrett Gerloff

9 - Dominique Aegerter

10 - Alex Lowes