Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) leads the way straight away on the morning of Day Two of running at Round Four of the Catalan Round of the 2023 World Superbike season.
The little Spaniard led the way at the end of Fridays running after taking top spot in the second Practice session in the afternoon. However, Bautista was not waiting around on the morning of Day Two as he set a lap time of 1m 40.573, which was 0.967 seconds quicker than anybody else on circuit.
Behind the Championship leader there were two Italians who look like they could be battling for second best today if Bautista's dominance continues. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team) sat in second place almost a full second behind top spot. Then just behind Locatelli was Bautista's teammate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati).
Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) had a good morning session in Catalunya as he finished the Saturday morning session in fourth place. The Texan has good memories around this circuit so he could produce his best result for BMW this weekend.
Spaniard, Xavi Vierge (Team HRC), has had a solid weekend so far and continues his good form into Saturday as he finished FP3 in fifth place.
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) is chasing a factory Ducati seat for the 2024 season and a sixth place finish in FP3 and a crash to end the morning is not exactly what the Italian would have liked.
In seventh place in FP3 was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team). The Kawasaki riders are still struggling in hot conditions. Behind the six time Champion was the 2021 World Superbike Champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK Team), who finished in eighth place.
Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha) finished inside the top ten in the third and final Practice session as he finished ninth place. Scott Redding (RoKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rounded out the top ten as the second highest BMW rider.
The other three British riders in WorldSBK finished outside of the top ten in FP3. Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in an impressive 14th place. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) finished behind the World Superbike rookie in 15th place. With Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) continuing to struggle down in 23rd place.
WorldSBK Catalunya - FP3 Results
| 2023 Catalunya WorldSBK | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | FP3Results | Rd. 4 of 12] | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Motorcycle | Lap |
| 1 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Aruba Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 40.573 |
| 2 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Crescent Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 41.540 |
| 3 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 41.588 |
| 4 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 41.622 |
| 5 | Xavi Vierge | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 41.677 |
| 6 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 41.698 |
| 7 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 41.856 |
| 8 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Crescent Racing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 41.882 |
| 9 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 | 1m 42.091 |
| 10 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 42.114 |
| 11 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Team HRC | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 42.180 |
| 12 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 42.214 |
| 13 | Dominique Aegerter | CHE | GYTR GRT | Yamaha R1 | 1m 42.377 |
| 14 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Motoxracing | Yamaha R1 | 1m 42.411 |
| 15 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 42.569 |
| 16 | Philipp Oettl | GER | Go Eleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 42.849 |
| 17 | Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 43.062 |
| 18 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT 94 | Yamaha R1 | 1m 43.404 |
| 19 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 43.532 |
| 20 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 43.546 |
| 21 | Ivo Lopes | POR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 43.619 |
| 22 | Eric Granado | BRA | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 43.642 |
| 23 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 43.813 |
| 24 | Isaac Vinales | ESP | TPR by Vinales Racing | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 44.014 |
| 25 | Gabriele Ruiu | ITA | Bmax Racing | BMW M 1000 RR | 1m 45.508 |
