Alvaro Bautista is on course for first Ducati title since Carlos Checa in 2011- Ducati knows the dangers and wants to maintain focus
Since the 2011 WSBK season, Ducati has been waiting for a title in the World Superbike Championship. Carlos Checa gave Ducati its last World Championship success to date eleven years ago, but this year that drought could come to an end thanks to Alvaro Bautista. Bautista was already on course for the title in 2019 with the then new V4 Ducati. Crashes in the summer set the Spaniard back. Fellow countryman Checa assumes that Bautista will not repeat these mistakes.
“I think Alvaro knows what happened in the first year. That was an important lesson for him. He won’t make the same mistake,” Checa commented in an interview with ‘WorldSBK.com’. Checa knows how important the title is for Ducati: “They will do everything to strengthen that bond because they are made for each other.”
“The remaining two thirds of the season will be very tough. Everything is close together and anything is possible. In the World Superbike Championship, a lot of points are awarded every weekend. If you have a bad weekend then an advantage can quickly dissolve,” knows the 2011 World Champion.
Ducati knows what needs to be improved on the Panigale V4R
Currently Alvaro Bautista is 36 points ahead of Jonathan Rea and already 79 points ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu. “It has been a very positive start to the new season,” said a delighted Ducati Team Manager Serafino Foti. “Our engineers and the team have worked well over the winter. But we have to stay focused. “
“It’s only been four race weekends. Our opponents are very strong. We have to keep our feet on the ground,” warns the Ducati manager, who would like to finally bring another title to Bologna together with Bautista: “At the moment he is doing a very good job and is incredibly fast. His feeling for the Panigale V4R is incredibly good.”
On its WSBK debut in the 2019 season, the Panigale V4R impressed with its performance. But so far, no Ducati rider has been able to capitalise on that advantage and claim a title. “I don’t know if we have the best bike in the field. But it works pretty well for sure,” muses Serafino Foti.
The Ducati team manager knows that no bike is perfect. “We need to improve in the slow corners. You saw that in Estoril, but also in Misano. In the slow corners the Yamaha and the Kawasaki have small advantages. This is the area we need to improve,” analyses the Italian.
Crewchief Giulio Nava wants to ensure calm in the pit
In the twelve races so far, Bautista has finished on the podium twelve times. With this consistency, the Spaniard wants to secure his first World Championship title in Superbikes. Crew chief Giulio Nava was already there three years ago. Nava always tries to reassure his rider to avoid mistakes.
“Everything went pretty well so far. We had everything under control. That helps to create a relaxed atmosphere and prevent excitement,” said the crew chief of the World Championship leader. “We realise that sometimes something is missing. But we don’t want to experiment too much,” Nava explained.
“For example, you can make the bike turn better in corners. But if you decide to do that, you lose a few metres in braking at the same time. If you want to improve braking, then again you lose in the corners. We try to find the best compromise in all conditions,” the crew chief says of the strategy.
“And if that is not enough to be able to win, then we just get second or third place. That is a lesson of the 2019 season. It is not necessary to win every single race,” explains Bautista’s crew chief, who only wants to try out experiments with the set-up during the tests so as not to lose track of things on the race weekends.
