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Dominique Aergerter showed a spirited chase on Saturday, with which he made multiple champion Jonathan Rea look old in the final phase once again, as he did last Sunday.

In good and stable conditions, the first decisions were made on Saturday at the second stop of the 2023 Superbike World Championship at the Indonesian vacation island of Lombok. Due to minor difficulties in the morning, class newcomer Dominique Aegerter was unable to shine in the so-called Superpole, which decides the starting grid, as he did a week ago at the season opener in Australia, when he stormed to third place on the grid. The 32-year-old rider of the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team had to tackle the first main race of the weekend from the twelfth in the fourth row on the grid.

At the start of race one in the heat of Southeast Asia’s noon, Aegerter did not have the luckiest hand in choosing his line for the first corner. In the scrum, he lined up on the outside. But there a fallen rider slid into the gravel. Far from the ideal line, Aegerter could only hesitantly regain momentum on the dirty asphalt, which is why he finished the first lap only in 15th place. However, he quickly found a strong rhythm on the first flying lap, thanks to which he moved up to eighth place by the time he crossed the finish line.

The race weekend in Indonesia will continue on Sunday with the Superpole Race and the second main race. The competitions can be followed via live stream on the internet platform ServusTV. The broadcast begins at 03:15 CET.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, Yamaha YZF R1)
Grid position: 12th / Race 1: P8

"With twelfth place on the grid, we did not have such a good starting position. In turn one I was very far on the outside line and then a rider crashed as well, which is why I had to swerve onto the dirty part of the track. In this situation I lost a few positions because accelerating there was very tricky. I almost fell out of the points scoring positions. But after one or two laps I was able to race a good rhythm and work my way forward bit by bit. At the finish we were 13 seconds behind the winner, having already lost a good four and a half seconds on the first lap."

"This underline once again how important it is to have a good starting position in this highly competitive field in order to be in a position to achieve a result in the top five at the end fighting for it right from the start. We definitely had the pace for it. My team is doing a great job. Unfortunately, a small problem occurred in qualifying this morning. That is why I did not manage the 100 percent perfect lap. But I am looking forward to Sunday, where Superpole Race will be a good opportunity to improve our grid position for the second race tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully the weather will stay like it was today. A big thank you to everyone, especially the fantastic Indonesian fans."

#IDNWorldSBK - WSBK Superpole:
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´32.037
3 Andrea LOCATELLI / ITA / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´32.106 +0.069
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´32.202 +0.165
12 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´33.035 +0.998 

#IDNWorldSBK - WSBK Race 1 (21 Laps):
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 32´44.093
2 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +4.809
3 Andrea LOCATELLI / ITA / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +6.586
8 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +13.961

WorldSBK Standing:
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Ducati / 87
2 Andrea LOCATELLI / ITA / Yamaha / 50
3 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Yamaha / 43
11 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Yamaha / 20

#IDNWorldSBK – WSBK Time Schedule for Sunday March 5th (CET):
01:30 - 01:45 Warm Up
03:30 Superpole-Race (10 Laps - 43.00 km)
06:30 Race 2 (21 Laps - 90.30 km)