Alvaro Bautista returned to the top step of the WorldSBK podium with a comfortable victory in the final race of the Catalunya weekend, the defending champion leading home team-mate Nicolo Bulega in an Aruba.it Ducati 1-2.

In what has been a challenging start to the 2024 WorldSBK season, at least compared with his dominant efforts during the first-half of last year, Bautista looked back to his best as he got the better of his rookie team-mate and Toprak Razgatlioglu - winner of Race 1 and the Superpole Race - to the delight of the home fans.

After being forced to fight back from 11th on the grid in the opening two races, Bautista made the most of an elevated front row starting position to get the jump on Andrea Iannone, Bulega and pole sitter Razgatlioglu on the run to turn one.

Initially holding firm out front as his rivals disputed positions behind him, Bautista would come under pressure on lap four from Bulega, the Italian having yo-yo'd from second to fourth and back to second early on before taking on his more experienced counterpart.

It was an assault that'd take him past Bautista on the brakes into Turn 10 on lap four, the Italian proceeding to get the hammer down to open up a small margin in the ensuing laps.

Bautista soon regrouped, however, coming back at Bulega as the race tipped into its second-half to move back ahead.

From here, Bautista wasn't headed again thereafter, the two-time WorldSBK Champion managing his margin back to Bulega to reel off the win by just over two seconds.

A welcome fillip for Bautista having endured mixed fortunes in Australia, it gave Ducati good reason to celebrate as Bulega ensured a first 1-2 lockout of the 2024 WorldSBK season.

After his gritty last lap passes for victory in Race 1 and the Superpole Race, Razgatlioglu's hopes of a hat-trick faded with his tyres as he settled for third at the conclusion of an otherwise successful weekend on the ROKiT BMW M 1000 RR.

It was a strong end for BMW complemented further by Michael van der Mark fourth place on the second of the factory M 1000 RRs, followed by Danilo Petrucci, who secured top independent honours at the behest of early front-runner Iannone, the Italian forced out with eight laps remaining after a crash at Turn 10.

Remy Gardner was sixth across the line but demoted a position to seventh after a post-race penalty, allowing Alex Lowes to pop ahead in sixth on the sole finishing Kawasaki ZX-10RR after Axel Bassani was eliminated in a collision with Andrea Locatelli and Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

In eighth, Jonathan Rea clinched his first points of the season with a measured ride to ensure a positive conclusion to another troubled weekend on the Pata PROMETEON Yamaha, ahead of Dominique Aegerter and Garrett Gerloff.

🇪🇸 🏁 2024 Catalunya WorldSBK | RACE 2 Results

Sunday | Conditions - Dry, Sunny