News 4 Apr 2019

Bautista 'contributing to growth' of WorldSBK as home round looms

Dominant points leader anticipating greater expectations this weekend.

Image: Supplied.

Alvaro Bautista believes his dominance in the opening two rounds of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) has contributed to the growth of the series in Spain, which will host round three this weekend at Aragon.

Bautista, who transitioned from MotoGP to WorldSBK this season, has been unstoppable since Phillip Island’s opener, winning all six races aboard the all-new Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Panigale V4 R.

Set to experience a home crowd for a first time in the superbike championship, rookie Bautista admits there are greater expectations for this weekend’s event, however his target remains the same.

“After Thailand we had some time to rest before my home race and I’m looking forward to it because I want to enjoy my WSBK championship round with all the Spanish fans,” Bautista explained.

“I think that six wins in a row for sure has helped to make superbikes in Spain more well-known, and I’m happy because I feel I’m contributing to the growth of the championship, but this obviously means there are more expectations for my home round.

“Even though we did a positive test here, Aragon will be a new track for this bike, but as always I will try to be focused. The target is exactly the same, we must work to get the bike as competitive as possible and then we will see what happens.”

Bautista leads defending four-time champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) in the standings with a 26-point advantage.

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