Bautista extends title lead in Thailand

Alvaro Bautista's domination in WorldSBK continued at the Pirelli Thai round at the Chang International Circuit last weekend, where the ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati-mounted rider claimed three wins from three races to maintain his unbeaten record since joining the championship.

The Spanish rider had his work cut out for him in race one before moving through to take the lead and eventual win with 12 laps to go, whilst in the Tissot Superpole Race, a small battle soon saw Bautista pull away before a red flag. In race two, it was a lights-to-flag victory like those we saw in Australia, the effort emphasising his outright pace in all scenarios.

Related reading:
Jonathan Rea interview
WorldSBK: Tom Sykes' new lease on life
Bautista's WorldSBK clean sweep

The 34-year-old championship leader was thrilled with the result.

"I think it has been the perfect weekend!" he said. "Before we came here, we knew that this weekend would not be like in Australia. With Kawasaki winning seven out of the last eight races, we were coming to Kawasaki territory! For us, it is not easy because the bike is new and every track we visit, we have everything to discover!"

With his sixth win, he surpasses the likes of Davide Tardozzi and Leon Haslam in the all-time win rankings. A seventh win will put him level with American, Ben Bostrom.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) may have failed to take a win in Thailand for the first time since the country became part of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship calendar, but his super consistency means he was able to still be the best of the rest.

Having led at sporadic points throughout the race weekend, Rea is still only 26 points behinds Bautista, a margin that Rea himself has often left Thailand with, for other riders to try and overcome. A challenging weekend but an intriguing one also, Rea knows he will have to come back stronger at Spain's MotorLand Aragon round (April 5 to 7).

Rea said his Kawasaki was performing well.

"I am happy with the way we are extracting the best out of the ZX-10RR every weekend, as well as working well with the guys," he said.

"The package was strong, and I felt like I could ride on the limit. As soon as I lost Alvaro's slipstream, I was kind of gone and I just managed my own race.

"It just seems that the competition now is a step in front, so it is motivating to keep working," said Rea, who is hunting his fifth WorldSBK title this season.

"Mentally, it is a little bit of a different situation for me; I won the last 11 races of last season, so I'm slowly getting used to there being a faster guy on track right now!"

WorldSBK points after Round Two
1. Alvaro Bautista (Ducati), 124 points
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki), 98 points
3. Alex Lowes (Yamaha), 69 points

Round Two Results – Chang International Circuit, Thailand
Race One
1. Alvaro Bautista (Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
3. Alex Lowes (Yamaha)
4. Michael van der Mark (Yamaha)
5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki)

Sprint
1. Alvaro Bautista (Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
3. Alex Lowes (Yamaha)
4. Michael van der Mark (Yamaha)
5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki)

Race Two
1. Alvaro Bautista (Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
3. Alex Lowes (Yamaha)
4. Michael van der Mark (Yamaha)
5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki)