In WorldSBK, with his Ducati Bautista takes Superpole®, track record and Race 1; the new larger size tyres in the Pirelli range contribute to improving race lap times by almost one second
In Superpole® the Spaniard already manages to break the track record using race tyres, only to improve on it by almost one second on qualifiers; in the race he sets the pace and finishes first with a wide gap ahead of Rea and Lowes
Álvaro Bautista and the new Ducati Panigale V4 R prove once again in Thailand to be a formidable and terrible duo which is sure to be in the limelight throughout this MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season.
After winning all three races at his début in the opening round of the world championship for factory derivative bikes in Australia, at Chang International Circuit of Buriram, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Spaniard was once again uncatchable today, taking a crushing victory in Race 1.
After dominating in all three free practice sessions and winning Superpole® with an astonishing time of 1’31.912, breaking the track record by almost one second that Jonathan Rea had set in 2018, Bautista also took a dominating win in Race 1 with a gap at the finish of more than eight seconds over reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), second, and more than fourteen ahead of Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1), third.
The surprising performance by Álvaro Bautista confirms not only the Spanish rider’s talent and the high performance of the new Ducati Panigale V4 R, but also the outstanding work Pirelli accomplished during last season. In fact, in addition to Bautista, Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes, Sandro Cortese and Leon Haslam were also able to drop well below the track record during Superpole®, proof of how Yamaha and Kawasaki also managed to improve performance on this circuit, thanks to the new Pirelli tyres.
And on top of the result achieved in Superpole®, where the riders can use the supersoft rear qualifying tyre, performance was echoed in the race where everyone used standard tyres, specifically the new larger solutions both on the front and the rear, which allowed for an improvement of almost one second per lap over last year’s lap times.
At the start of Race 1, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) got off the line well from his second-place spot on the grid and at the first turn he overtook Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) for the lead. On the third lap, in his attempt to take back the position, the Ducati rider made contact with Rea, which caused him to forfeit second place to Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1). However, on the next lap, he took the position back. In the meantime, Eugene Laverty was forced to retire due to a bad crash.
Jonathan Rea led with an advantage of one second over Bautista and Lowes. During the ninth lap, Chaz Davies crashed out but was able to rejoin the race, and in the meantime, teammate Bautista, doing the fastest lap of the race with a time of 1’32.724, managed to overtake Rea to move back into the lead.
The rest of the race held no surprises for the Spaniard who went on to finish first with an advantage of more than eight seconds over Jonathan Rea, second, and more than fourteen ahead of Alex Lowes, third.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
1) Á. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
2) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
3) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
4) M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
6) M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
7) S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
8) M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
9) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
10) T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
11) J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
12) L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
13) L. Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
14) M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
15) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
16) T. Warokorn (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) - Wild Card
17) A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
RT) R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
RT) E. Laverty (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1:
In Race 1, all the riders used the larger size 200/65 standard SC0 (option B) on the rear, which also allowed Bautista to break the track record set by Rea in 2018 in Superpole® with a qualifying tyre.
On the front, ten riders decided to combine the larger size rear with the larger size 125/70 SC1 standard tyre (option B), whereas eight opted for the larger size 125/70 SC2 X1071 development solution (option C). Only one rider opted for the standard SC1 in the 120/70 size, Ryūichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR).
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R),in 1'32.724 at the 9th lap
• Most used front solution: standard SC1 125/70 (10 out of 19 riders)
• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 200/66 (19 out of 19 riders)
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 309.5 km/h, achieved by Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in the 5th lap
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 7 rear
Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 80, including 42 front and 38 rear
• Air temperature: 35° C
• Asphalt temperature: 49° C