[Iwannaduc]

Another race down and another win for Bautista. The clash with Rea in the early laps nearly put him on the deck instead of the podium.

That said, his pace to bridge the gap back to Rea after that was breathtaking. He set (I think) 3 new lap records in pursuit. Once he got past, that was it.

The announcers continually talked about Johnny Rea's consistency but not really about Bautista's. I don't understand that one. Bautista is possibly even more consistent. He was hammering out 1:32s for a number of laps before dropping back into the low 1:33s. He was the only one in the low 1:33s when he did.

I'll be the first to admit, at first I didn't understand Ducati's choice when they hired Bautista for WSBK. However, it's proven an inspired one.

After I thought about it for a little bit, it occurred to me that:
A) Bautista already had a few years on the Ducati GP V4
B) He's pretty consistent in top 10 finishes aboard said bike
C) He managed those finishes in the company of riders like Rossi, Marquez, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa (aboard a number of different bikes)

Putting him aboard a V4 for WSBK, he'd probably take less time to adapt due to the similarity to the GP V4. (citing interview with Gigi on the similarity) I'd have to think that is at least partially a factor in the success Bautista has so far achieved.

Looking at where all the other Ducati riders finished, Rinaldi was the next highest in 8th, with both Davies and Laverty winding up on the deck. Davies at least managed to remount and get back up to 15th by the end.

Still, there's such a breadth of difference in where they finished one cannot put Bautista's success down to the bike alone. I also think he proved he can duke it out with the best of them after the contact with Rea in the early laps.

Looking forward to see what kind of fisticuffs will go down in the Superpole race tomorrow. Rea said he could ride at and over the limit for 10 laps so he felt he could compete pretty well for that race.....sean

 

[Yorik]

Did anyone ever really question Bautista's talent? He was a GP125 champion and in MotoGP for a long time for a reason. He just never had a top level factory bike. Now he does, albeit in WSBK. I think Nicky should have taken the Ducati offer instead of the POS customer Honda that had him at the back of the pack. Anyway, water under the bridge.

Are there lenses in Melandri's goofy looking glasses?

 

[egomexico]

Ducatistas like us are happy to see a Ducati on top of the podium on every race. But Bautista is so dominant now that Dorna will have to intervene for the sake of the show.

There are too many seconds between first and second place. Even Rea in the past 4 years has never been so far ahead of the rest.

IMHO Dorna will limit Ducati's RPMs to slow down Bautista very soon.

 

[mabrungard]

The poor finishes for the rest of the Ducati riders is troubling. I suppose they have some learn'n to do.

 

[egomexico]

The poor finishes for the rest of the Ducati riders is troubling. I suppose they have some learn'n to do.

I agree.
It reminds me of a similar situation in Motogp when Stoner was wining races while the rest were unable to tame the Desmosedici.

Chaz Davies is a fine racer who was a challenger on the twin. But he seems to be clueless on the V4.

 

[Iwannaduc]

I'm hoping there isn't a "dumbing down" of the V4R due to how dominant Bautista has been. As I wrote previously, I feel it is more down to his talent and feel for the bike than it is a bike related domination.

The results of the other Ducati riders bears that out. Laverty and Davies both have been on the deck in each of the previous race weekends. When they actually do finish, it's pretty far down in the pack. Rinaldi has been consistently around 8th place. That's all the proof anyone should need.

 

[Iwannaduc]

The Rest

Anyone take notice of where the Honda's were? When Ten Kate was relieved of Honda's WSBK team, Jake Gagne lost his ride to be replaced by Ryuchi Kiyonari. No disrespect to Kiyonari San but seriously? He's even more nowhere on the Honda this year than Gagne was last year.

Camier can't seemingly buy a spot of luck. Injured again already. Hopefully he'll recover enough by the next round to get in the mix. Not that the Honda is anywhere near being as capable as it should.

Also, the BMWs. Sykes hasn't exactly been at the sharper end of the field where he was on the Kawasaki last year so clearly the bike is not up to the level of the Pucetti bikes. Sykes tendency last year was to fade as the race went on. This year is much of the same. He's able to run about 5th or 6th place but once the tires start to go off, he slips back through the pack.

Yamaha are looking pretty solid this year. All 4 of the Yamahas were up there in the top 10. Lowes and Van Der Mark pretty much finishing where they did most of last year but with Melandri for company. Cortesi is just a bit off of the pace of the others. He's not far behind though.

Looking forward to see what surprises the next round brings.....sean

 

[John]

Ducatistas like us are happy to see a Ducati on top of the podium on every race. But Bautista is so dominant now that Dorna will have to intervene for the sake of the show.

There are too many seconds between first and second place. Even Rea in the past 4 years has never been so far ahead of the rest.

IMHO Dorna will limit Ducati's RPMs to slow down Bautista very soon.

I was just thinking that and they (Dorna) did nothing when Rea was dominating for years. Yes, he has tremendous talent, but he also had a fast bike. It reminded me of the performance of Fogarty and the "Ducati Cup" era. That is where the similarity ended, personality wise, Fogarty was something else. The one reason why I show some respect for him is the fact he had the balls to race in the TT. Anyway, back then the grid was dominated by Ducati and in the earlier years, I/4s were limited to 750cc, at least now there are many more manufacturers present. I recall Dorna, or whoever played the racing authority placed limits on Ducati air restrictors, I agree they are no doubt talking about what action to take, if they do I hope they limit any kind of intrusion to a minimal setting, so instead of winning by 14 seconds, Bautista can win by 5 seconds, lol. Payback is a bitch. I'm anxious to see Davies get on with this new bike for him, I believe he would be right up there with Bautista if not for bad luck. I guess if he was then Dorna would have issued a mechanical change order to Ducati by now.

 

[John]

Stay cool Chaz

I agree.
It reminds me of a similar situation in Motogp when Stoner was wining races while the rest were unable to tame the Desmosedici.

Chaz Davies is a fine racer who was a challenger on the twin. But he seems to be clueless on the V4.

Could be a learning curve going on with Davies, but crashing in both races skews any objective opinions of him. Because of the way coverage is this year with BeIn not free anymore, I haven't been able to dial in a channel that covers both WSBK and MotoGP. But, Davies could be having a number of issues he hasn't come to grips with, could be simple to complex, notwithstanding the head games this could bring on. He's been around and is a pro, so I hope he can adapt and stay cool in the meantime.

BTW, how did his practice days go and Superpole?