WorldSBK | 2019 | Round 3 | Motocard Aragon Round | April 5 - 7

Bautista will only win each race by ~9 seconds...because Assen is not a horsepower track.

 

SO now Aragon is a ducati track and we will see how Bautista does at a track that doesn't favor the Ducati. At this point I am going to suggest that all of the tracks will favor the Ducati. I do find this amusing.

 

That very well could be. It will be quite interesting to see if he continues winning. Definitely an eye opener to realize how many years he's languished in MotoGP on sub-optimal equipment.
Kind of makes you wonder what he could have done had he had a full factory (Yamaha or Honda) ride.

Just kind of musing, but if Bautista's able to beat Rea by this much, how solid is the argument that Rea would have Won/Been at the pointy end in MotoGP?

 

Sucks so bad for Laverty, dude just can't catch a break.

 

I have a couple Ducatis in the garage. I like to see them do well in whatever series they run. I'm hardly a homer. I like Dovi. I like Rossi. I respect Marc. I don't really give a rats ass about Bautista, but he's laying waste to that entire series right now and you're blind if you think it's just the bike. He is the only one having success on it, whether it's a "Ducati" track or not. If Chaz was finishing 2nd and they both were running off into the sunset, there could be that argument. He's winning by 10+ second margins over Kawasakis and Yamahas while the other Ducs are sprinkled throughout the top 10.

 

Like I said you have to hear Chaz's interview.
This result confirms what he said.

 

Link to the interview, please?

 

https://soundcloud.com/user-507823319/s2-e7-chaz-davies-expects

 

how good did Lowes, Laverty, etc... do? shit, how good did McGuinness do? one of the "winningest" motorbike riders ever in his own right and nothing. hell i've always liked Rea, and you never know until you give it a try for a season or 2, but shit man...

as solid as melted jello.

 

Alex Lowes, to my knowledge, didn't get into MotoGP.
Sam Lowes did, but crashed out.
Laverty was on Aspar Honda, so, by no means a factory ride.

McGuinness is in a league of his own.
2nd only to Joey Dunlop for that type of riding. Not an appropriate comparison in my mind.

 

Good gawd, what Bautista is doing to the field in race two is a crime in some countries.

 

9 for 9. AB is on it.

 

Most common comment from WSBK this year: "oh yeah, Bautista is in this race"

 

he has a GP or SBK record if i remember correctly. it was not good. point is... seeing the dude excel in one place is no indicator he would have done so in the other.

 

Watching race two, I think it’s clear that between the rider, the ream, and the bike, Bautista is enjoying a combination advantages (it doesn’t hurt that he weight something like 125 lbs).
Davies looked to be in control once he moved into second place (excluding his turn one mistake on the last lap). Laverty is making progress as well.
What I’m not sure of is whether (and how much) they should throttle the duck, or uncork the Kawi.

 

How are they limiting the Kawi? They aren’t. Since both bikes are new for this year, they both have a 3% bump over the street bike. Looks like Chaz has taken a step forward. Two third place finishes this weekend.

 

Easily could've been a third and a second if it wasn't for his daft mistake on the last lap. Really wanted him to finish ahead of Rea.

 

I agree with you. The TT success doesn't translate to short circuit, nor does it translate from short circuit to TT.

 

I believe Chaz has been injured, and it would appear that he's recovering and subsequently, able to push himself.

Either way, the race for 2/3/4 in all the races was quite good.

 

https://www.cyclenews.com/2019/02/article/2019-worldsbk-rev-limit-released/
As a road bike it has 600 more rpm compared to the previous model, but in WorldSBK trim, it has ‘just’ 500 rpm more.

The article, if accurate, indicates just 100 rpm. I wonder if they could squeeze out more with some development.