Thanks in part to excellent management of the Pirelli tyres, Álvaro Bautista wins Race 1 of WorldSBK with the new Ducati Panigale V4 R in Australia
In his absolute début in the Championship for factory derivative bikes, the thirty-four-year-old Spanish rider set a stunning race pace, finishing ahead of reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea and Marco Melandri’s Yamaha
In the first race of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season that was held on the Australian Phillip Island circuit, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) triumphed with the new Ducati Panigale V4 R, both in their absolute début in the Championship for factory derivative bikes.
The Spanish rider finished with an advantage of almost 15 seconds, with reigning World Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) second, and Italian Marco Melandri(GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) in third place.
This makes Álvaro Bautista the fourth rider in WorldSBK history to win his maiden race in the category. Before him, this feat had been accomplished only by Yuichi Takeda (1996), John Kocinski (1996) and Max Biaggi (2007).
The Phillip Island track is historically very hard on the tyres that are subjected to high thermal and mechanical stress, especially on the left side. For this reason, on this track much more than on others, getting the bikes dialled in is fundamental, as is the rider’s ability to manage the tyres for the duration of the race.
The team Aruba.it Racing – Ducati new entry surprised everyone with how quickly he was able to adapt to the new bike and the new Pirelli tyres. In particular, concerning the tyres, from the tests at the beginning of the week, Bautista worked consistently and methodically to prepare for the difficult race, first trying to find the limits of the tyres and then working on managing them in the best possible way.
Reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), after setting the new track record in Superpole® with a time of 1’29.413, was unable to be as fast in the race, in any case managing to finish second.Behind Bautista’s Ducati and Rea’s Kawasaki, Melandri’s Yamaha rounded out the podium, made up of three different manufacturers.
In Race 1, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) started well from the third spot on the grid, snatching the race lead just ahead of pole man Jonathan Rea and the other Kawasaki rider, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR). Lying fourth was Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1). In the meantime, after three laps, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) moved up to fifth ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR) and on the following lap he overtook Alex Lowes for fourth. During the fourth lap, Haslam overtook World Champion and teammate Rea for second place behind Bautista. During the ninth lap, Leon Camier dropped back from ninth to last place due to a mistake. In the meantime, Lowes took fourth place back from Razgatlioglu. On the thirteenth lap, Leon Haslam crashed out on turn 4, ending up in sixteenth place and thereby opening the door for Alex Lowes to move into third.However, in the final part of the race, Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) clawed his way back up into fourth place to then, on the penultimate lap, overtake Lowes as well, earning a podium finish.
It was an all-red finale with Bautista finishing almost 15 seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea, second, and Marco Melandri, third.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
1) A. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
2) J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
3) M. Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
4) A. Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
5) M. Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
6) T. Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
7) T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
8) S. Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
9) M. Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
10) C. Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
11) J. Torres (Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
12) E. Laverty (Team Goeleven / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
13) M. Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
14) L. Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
15) L. Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
16) R. Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
17) A. Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
RT) T. Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing / Honda CBR1000RR) - Wild Card
RT) L. Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the WorldSBK riders for Race 1:
In Race 1, the choice for the rear was unanimous for the riders, with all putting on the larger 200/65 tyre in the W1049 medium development solution (option A).
On the front, ten riders decided to combine the 200/65 W1049 rear with the larger size 125/70 X1071 SC2 development tyre (option C) and eight went with the 125/70 standard SC1 (option B). Only one rider opted for the standard SC1 in the 120/70 size, Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1).
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing-Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R),in 1'30.884 at the 3rd lap
• Most used front solution: devolpment SC1 125/70 X1071 (10 out of 19 riders)
• Most used rear solution: development SC1 200/65 W1049 (19 out of 19 riders)
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 318.6 km/h, achieved by Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) in the 3rd and 4th 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: 76, including 39 front and 39 rear
• Air temperature: 21° C
• Asphalt temperature: 46° C