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Aruba.it Racing Ducati WSBK Team

  • Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki finally ended Alvaro Bautista and Ducati’s WorldSBK 2019 winning streak.

  • Rea won in Race 1 at the Imola circuit in Italy.

  • Bautista finished second after winning the first ten races of the year.

Four-time and reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea and his Kawasaki team ended Alvaro Bautista and Ducati’s winning streak in Race 1 at Imola, Italy.

Bautista and Ducati have scored a perfect ten out of ten races in five rounds prior. However, Rea proved the spoiler when Bautista tried to adapt to the tricky Imola circuit. It was the latter’s first race there. Rea had been strong throughout the practice sessions only to be pipped by Bautista’s teammate Chaz Davies in Superpole for pole position.

Come race day, Rea took the lead as soon as the lights went out, but passed by Davies soon after. It looked like the pair was going to resume their hard battles and rivalry through the last few seasons. Unfortunately, Davies’s bike encountered a problem and forced the Welshman to retire. In so doing, he handed second place to Bautista.

A battle soon erupted behind them.

Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) sat in third, while Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fought up to 4thfrom 8thon the grid. Van der Mark’s teammate Alex Lowes followed in 5th, ahead of Rea’s teammate Leon Haslam. Independent rider Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Purcetti Racing) moved in 7th.

At the front, Bautista had no answer to Rea’s pace. The Kawasaki man began to pull away at 0.7s per lap.

Photo credit Visordown

On a day of seeing front runners suffering bike problems, Tom Sykes’s BMW started to slow and eventually retired. At the same time, Lowes started to slip backwards.

With the final position suddenly available, van der Mark and Razgatlioglu battled tooth and nail. The pair swapped paint and traded blows on the penultimate lap to the stage of colliding twice. But it was the Turkish rider Razgatlioglu who presevered to cross the line in 3rd.

There was no problem for Rea, conversely. It was his eighth win at the track and 72ndin WorldSBK. It was Kawsaki’s 128thwin in the series.

Race 2 continues today at 8pm Malaysian local time.

Final results after Race 1:
  1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  2. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
  3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing)
  4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
  5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  6. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)
Alvaro Bautista di atas jentera Ducati Panigale V4 R sewaktu ujian pra musim WorldSBK 2019 Phillip Island – Sumber imej: ultimatemotorcycling.com
  • Alvaro Bautista dan Ducati telah meneruskan dominasi mereka pada hari kedua bagi ujian pra musim WorldSBK 2019 yang terakhir.
  • Dia telah berjaya mencatatkan masa yang lebih pantas pada hari terakhir ujian, meletakkannya di hadapan para penunggang yang lain.
  • Sekali lagi, lima tempat teratas telah diduduki oleh empat buah pengilang yang berbeza.

(more…)

  • Alvaro Bautista and Ducati once again dominated Day Two of the final WorldSBK 2019 pre-season testing.

  • He went faster on the final day, putting his best time way ahead of everyone else.

  • There were four different manufacturers in the Top Five.

Alvaro Bautista and Ducati again dominated the second day of the final WorldSBK 2019 pre-season test.

The Baustista-Ducati Panigale V4 R package had yielded the best time of 1m 30.743s on Day One, being the only rider to dip under the 1m 31s mark. The next fastest rider was Tom Sykes on the new BMW S 1000 RR, nearly 0.6 second behind with a time of 1m 31.300s.

But if the lap time from Day One was unassailable, Bautista put it even further out of reach on Day Two with a blistering best time of 1m 30.303s.

More importantly, that fastest lap wasn’t just one flying lap, proceeded by mediocre lap times. Bautista put in a total of 33 laps in the second session. Of that total, he ran 17 laps in the 1m 30s, 8 laps in the low 1m 31s bracket, while the rest were out laps (leaving the pit), slow down laps (to enter the pits) and in the pits. That is an amazing progression by any count. Bautista also recorded the highest top speed among the field with 314.9 km/h.

This domination is great news for Ducati, who were the King of Superbikes in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

The Top Five of the field actually improved on their fastest laps on Day Two, all dipping under the 1m 31s mark. Tom Sykes was second fastest on the BMW with a time of 1m 30.539s; new Kawasaki signing Leon Haslam finished third fastest with 1m 30.668s; four-time and 2018 champion Jonathan Rea in fourth on the Kawasaki with 1m 30.722s; and privateer Yamaha rider Marco Melandri recorded the fifth fastest time of 1m 1m 30.760s ahead of factory Yamaha rider Michael van Der Mark.

That’s four different manufacturers in the top five. Looks like we have an awesome WorldSBK 2019 season brewing.

Sumber imej: WorldSBK.com
  • Bekas penunggang MotoGP, Alvaro Bautista tampil terpantas di atas motosikal Ducati Panigale V4 R pada hari pertama ujian pra musim terakhir WorldSBK 2019.
  • Jentera Ducati tunggangan Bautista adalah salah satu daripada empat pengeluar yang berbeza dalam kedudukan Lima Teratas.
  • Sesi ujian akan diteruskan esok.

(more…)

  • Former MotoGP rider Alvaro Bautista was quickest on the Ducati Panigale V4 R on Day One of the final WorldSBK 2019 pre-season test.

  • Bautista’s Ducati was one of four different manufacturers in the Top 5.

  • Testing continues tomorrow.

New factory Ducati signing Alvaro Bautista dominated the first day of the final pre-season testing at the Phillip Island Circuit, ahead of the opening round of WorldSBK 2019.

Riding the new Ducati Panigale V4 R, Bautista was the only rider to dip below the 1m 31s mark with 1m 30.743s. Bautista was only fifth fastest at Jerez test in November. The Spanish rider and Gigi Dall’Igna have both said previously that it’s still early days for the Panigale V4 R but this result is surely an encouraging sign in their quest to recapture the WSBK crown that Ducati once held.

That wasn’t the only big news from Day One. There were four different manufacturers in the Top Five. Alex Lowes took the new Yamaha YZF-R1 to second fastest with a time of 1m 31.146s.

Four-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea captured third on the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, just a whisker behind Lowes with a time of 1m 31.189s. He blew everyone away during the test at Jerez by being one second faster than the next nearest rival.

Rea’s ex-teammate and former world champion Tom Sykes rode the new BMW S 1000 RR to fourth fastest in 1m 31.300s.

Fifth fastest was Rea’s new teammate Leon Haslam who recorded his fastest time of 1m 31.999s.

Many fans and pundits of the series are hoping for a closer fight this year, after Rea’s domination in the past two seasons. They shall get their wish if it continues like today, and Rea will have his hands full in stemming the tide from three other manufacturers.

Testing continues tomorrow.

  • Pasukan Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike telah melancarkan jentera Ducati Panigale V4 R WorldSBK 2019 mereka.
  • Penunggang mereka yang sedia ada, Chaz Davies akan disertai oleh penunggang baharu dan bekas pelumba MotoGP, Alvaro Bautista.
  • Kejohanan WorldSBK musim 2019 menandakan kali pertama Ducati mempertaruhkan jentera janaan enjin V-Four.

(more…)

  • The Aru Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike launched their WorldSBK 2019 Ducati Panigale V4 R.

  • Returning rider Chaz Davies is joined by newcomer and ex-MotoGP rider Alvaro Bautista.

  • WorldSBK 2019 marks the first time Ducati races with a V-Four bike.

It’s not only the season for wishing prosperity, it’s also when international race teams launch their teams for the 2019 season. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Superbike team launched their 2019 Ducati Panigale V4 R for WorldSBK 2019.

The team’s riders Chaz Davies and newcomer Alvaro Bautista will ride the new bikes in an effort to recapture the WorldSBK crown for Ducati. The Italian manufacturer had a stranglehold of the WorldSBK throughout the Nineties and it was through that championship that Ducati became a household name, before they ventured into MotoGP. However, they have not won a superbike title for the last seven years.

 

“We’ll be working with only one aim in mind: to win,” said Gigi Dall’Igna about Ducati Corse’s WorldSBK program.

The Ducati Panigale V4 R is also an important milestone for Ducati as it is their first V-Four-powered road bike. Indeed, the manufacturer created the Panigale V4 as their basis to win the WorldSBK title, and thereby breaking their long tradition of producing V-Twin superbikes. WorldSBK and World Supersport championships are production-based.

Make no mistake, the Ducati Panigale V4 R is a potent missile right out of the crate. On the other hand, the team and manufacturer are pragmatic in their approach.  “The project is still at an early stage and development has started auspiciously well, but we still have to perfect several details and we have a clearly defined development program,” added Dall’Igna.

Team rider Chaz Davies will spend his fifth year with the red bikes and is a regular hard charger. He’s not afraid to swap paint, rubber and leather with four-time and current WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea of Kawasaki.

Alvaro Bautista could prove to be the dark horse of the factory with his extensive experience and knowledge garnered in MotoGP. He may well score a few wins this season.

All pictures: Ducati and Asphalt & Rubber

Aruba.it Racing Ducati WSBK Team reveals new 2016 livery and donned on Ducati Panigale R race bike. (more…)

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