BAUTISTA IS REAL DEAL
Rea fastest in Jerez but MotoGP refugee gels well with new
Bautista +1.132 sec
Spaniard 4th quickest in WSB baptism
Jonathan Rea continued to lead the way as the main World Superbike teams prepared for 2019 in Jerez last week, but new boy Alvaro Bautista also impressed on his Ducati Panigale V4 missile. The Spaniard, who comes to WSB from MotoGP, posted competitive lap times from the early stages of the two-day test and ended his first day on a superbike just 0.3 seconds slower than the four-time reigning champion. Day two was a little more turbulent for Bautista with two crashes halting his progress. But he still ended the test faster than team-mate Chaz Davies and just 1.1 seconds off Rea’s quickest time.
‘It has less power’
Bautista’s fastest time was just a second slower than he went the following day on a full-factory Desmosedici GP bike, and with the V4 R superbike very much in the early stages of development there should be a lot more to come. Despite his impressive times, Bautista admitted he was on a steep learning curve.
“This bike is very different to the MotoGP bike,” he said. “First of all it has less power; on the straight thought there was something wrong! The tyres move about a
Davies +1.139 sec
lot, too, so I have to adapt to this because it is normal with these bikes and tyres whereas in MotoGP the tyres do not move as much and the bikes are more stable. “The character of the bike is similar to MotoGP, it just has a lot less power. You have to ride it a bit more like a 250cc GP bike; use more speed in the corner and be less aggressive on the gas because the bike starts to move. I was surprised to be as fast as I was. Starting this way is positive, but it’s only the beginning and we think there is a big margin for improvement.”
Pace ‘not a surprise’
Chaz Davies, who says he continues to be impressed by the V4’s potential, was fifth fastest in the test, lapping marginally slower than team-mate Bautista. While Ducati’s instant pace may surprise some, world champ Jonathan Rea said he had expected them to be quick from the off. “You can’t say the Ducati is fresh out of the box when a full test team has been working on it for 18 months. Ducati aren’t going to show up with something that’s not competitive.
“The ingredients are there for a great season, but it’s hard to tell from testing just how close we’ll all be. Testing is one thing, putting 26 races together is another.”