Aruba Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista converted his maiden WorldSBK pole position to the first-race win at Buriram today, crossing the line with an eight-second advantage after a duel with reigning champion Jonathan Rea.
The pair clashed early doors when Bautista ran wide and the Kawasaki man put it under him but the additional top speed of the V4R proved too much for Rea to cope with and, with five laps to go, the Spaniard pulled away as Rea’s front Pirelli gave up. Alex Lowes took his Pata Yamaha to his first podium of the season.
Bautista set a new lap record of 1’32.724 on lap nine as he escaped Rea, but running wide with six laps to meant Rea clawed back some ground on his rival.
Bautista slammed in 1’32 second laps near the end to extend his lead over Rea again, as Rea slowed significantly, finishing eight seconds down.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha) and his team-mate Michael van der Mark battled for third place, with Lowes taking the podium.
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) had a tussle for fifth, with Haslam winning out.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Ducati) had a lonely ride in seventh for a time but rookie Superbike rider Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha) caught him before the end, taking the seventh place off him.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had a blinding start to go fourth from his sixth place grip spot, but dropped back to finish ninth.
A four-rider fight for tenth place saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) lead Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki), Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) and top Honda rider Leon Camier (Moriwaki-Althea Honda Racing Team).
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) crashed out but got going to score a point in 15th place. Eugene Laverty was forced to jump off his Goeleven Panigale when it suffered brake failure.
One sprint race and one full race remain tomorrow, as Bautista takes an 18-point lead over Rea into Sunday in Thailand
