Jonathan Rea outside top six as Alvaro Bautista makes World Superbike history with dominant hat-trick at Phillip Island

Spain’s Bautista won the Superpole race and race two to seal a dominant treble following his victory in Saturday’s first race at the opening round of the 2023 championship.

The former MotoGP rider is now the most successful World Superbike rider ever at Phillip Island with eight victories in total.

Rea, who claimed a strong runner-up finish in Saturday’s wet race on his Kawasaki, was unable to repeat his podium feat on a challenging Sunday for the Northern Ireland man.

He dropped down the order in the Superpole sprint race after he was forced wide by series rookie and World Supersport champion Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha) at Turn 4.

Rea was unable to recover lost ground and eventually finished the 10-lap race in seventh, putting him on the third row for race two.

Bautista was briefly passed by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) on the first lap but hit back on lap two, drafting past the Turkish rider on the Gardner Straight.

The Aruba.it Ducati rider then pulled away from the pack, easing clear to clinch his 34th WSBK victory by 2.462s, drawing him level with 2013 champion Tom Sykes.

His team-mate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, made it a Ducati one-two in second after the Italian overtook Razgatlioglu at Turn 4 on the fourth lap.

Alex Lowes held on for fourth place behind Razgatlioglu.

Andrea Locatelli took the chequered flag in fifth on the second of the Pata Yamaha machines ahead of Philipp Oettl (Team Go Eleven Ducati).

Disaster struck for GRT Yamaha riders Aegerter and fellow WSBK newcomer Remy Gardner, who crashed out at Turn 4 on lap six after Gardner made an attacking move on his team-mate.

Following an investigation by race stewards, Aussie Gardner received a long lap penalty for race two for irresponsible riding.

There was no stopping Bautista in the final race of the weekend, who became the first WSBK rider to claim two hat-tricks at one circuit after repeating his 2019 treble. He is also the first rider to chalk up five hat-tricks.

Pole man Bautista and team-mate Rinaldi opened a gap at the front, with less than a second between them in the first few laps.

However, the defending champion began to up the ante and broke Rinaldi’s resolve, powering clear to win by six seconds in the 22-lap encounter as Ducati claimed another one-two on the podium. Locatelli finished third, three seconds further back.

In a drama-filled fight for fourth, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing Ducati) came out on top after resisting a late charge by Oettl.

Although Bassani and Oettl were on their own at the finish, Rea, Razgatlioglu and Lowes had also been involved in the scrap for fourth.

However, Aegerter and factory Honda rider Iker Lecuona both made late passes on Rea to demote the Ulsterman to eighth.

And a few laps remaining, Lowes lost the front of his Kawasaki at Miller Corner and wiped out Razgatlioglu, leaving both riders empty-handed.

Bautista will now take a 28-point lead over Locatelli into round two next weekend at the Mandalika Street Circuit in Indonesia.

Rea is joint third in the standings, 31 points behind Bautista (62) and level with Rinaldi.