WSBK: Ducati's Bautista Wins By 15 Seconds In World SBK Debut At Phillip Island

Aruba Racing Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista made a dream debut in the World Superbike (WSBK) Championship in the opening race of the 2019 season. The Spaniard won the first race of the season at Phillip Island, Australia by a margin of 14.983s, beating reigning WSBK champion Jonathan Rea of Kawasaki Racing to the top spot. Bautista was astride the Ducati Panigale V4 R and maintained his momentum right after taking the lead on the opening lap. While the former MotoGP rider had shown impressive pace during the practice sessions, a victory and that too by such a huge margin was certainly unprecedented.

Alvaro Bautista took his maiden win in WSBK with reigning champion Jonathan Rea finishing second

Bautista was dominant through the pre-season test in Australia and also set the pace during the practice sessions. However, the Ducati rider qualified third in the first race of the season with Kawasaki riders Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam starting in the top two spots. However, Bautista was quick to take the lead in the opening lap itself as passed Haslam at the start followed by Rea soon after. The Ducati rider quickly cleared off the KRT bikes and Rea could barely keep pace.

By the end of the fourth lap, Bautista had built a lead of three seconds, while the distance increased to eight seconds by Lap 7. Meanwhile, Haslam passed Rea by Lap 4 to take second but the latter reclaimed the second spot a few corners later. Haslam passed Rea once again as the race crossed the halfway point but the Kawasaki rider crashed soon after putting Jonathan in the clear for P2. However, the second spot was not an easy one with Yamaha rider Alex Lowes breathing down Rea's neck. Bautista, however, was unassailable at this point extending his lead over 10 seconds. The Ducati rider finally crossed the finish line, his first ever WSBK race, with a lead of nearly 15 seconds.

Rea finished second as Lowes lost third place to Marco Melandri on the GRT Yamaha on the final lap. Other Yamaha rider Michael van der Mark finished fifth in the race followed by Puccetti Kawasaki rider Toprak Razgatlioglu, who finished sixth after starting 14th on the grid. BMW rider Tom Sykes finished seventh, with GRT Yamaha's Sandro Cortese finishing eighth. Barni Ducati rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi took ninth ahead of Bautista's teammate Chaz Davies.