Bautista: Australia a dream, Thailand is uncertain

Alvaro Bautista says despite his dream debut in World Superbikes with a hat-trick of wins at Phillip Island he can’t be certain if the same performance will be translated in Thailand this weekend.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider dominated in Australia on his World Superbike debut to win all three races, including the first-ever sprint race which is new for 2019, and wants to take the same approach to Buriram as he aims to repeat the results.

Bautista is the rider who has most recently competed at the Thai track, last October in MotoGP where he finished in eighth place, but feels he can’t be certain the circuit will suit the new Ducati V4 R despite the long straights which should allow the Italian manufacturer to replicate its superior straight-line speed, which the Spanish rider used to dominate at Phillip Island last month.

“Australia was a dream weekend and I couldn’t have asked for a better start in World Superbike,” Bautista said. “In Thailand I got a good result last season in MotoGP, so I’m feeling confident but Buriram is a track that has different characteristics to Phillip Island because there are more mixed sectors.

“For sure our rivals will be tough to beat, so we have to remain focussed and work really hard during the weekend. Anyway we will go to Thailand with the same mentality, I know the right feeling with the bike now so I will try and find it there as well.

“The Panigale V4 R is still a completely new bike, and the potential is high but we’ve got a lot of work to do to get it to 100%. I don’t know if Buriram is a Ducati track or not, we’ll just have to see what happens.”

12 months ago Bautista’s team-mate Chaz Davies finally broke the Kawasaki domination at the Thai track by winning race two on Ducati’s v-twin Panigale R. Before that race, every World Superbike race at Buriram had been won by a Kawasaki rider (Rea six, Sykes one).