Maybe Bautista is used to roughing up a beast of a bike, to get his way around the track and his new ride is more manageable? I imagined that he would crack the top 5 in testing, but has exceeded expectations, now! Good on him! Anything to reign in the monotony of Master Rea...
Yes it's PI, but if you look back at Jerez and Portimao, Davies' times weren't anywhere near Bautista's except on Day 1 at Jerez.
At Jerez, Bautista actually ended up behind Davies by .482 on Day 1, but their best times were only in the 1:41s. On Day 2 Bautista finished +1.001 ahead of Davies once the pace picked up - Bautista was in the 1:39s. At Portimao Bautista ended day 1 +1.1 on Davies, and day 2 +1.5. Here Davies was +1.9 on Day 1, and +1.4 on Day 2
For me there are a lot of maybes. Maybe Bautista is actually that fast - he did have 12 top 10s last year, and 3 of those were top 5s. Maybe Davies, Laverty and Rinaldi just haven't found a setting they like yet. Time will tell, but it's odd to see them so far off Bautista's times - I was expecting Davies and Laverty to be much closer to the top of the timesheets with how much Ducati hyped the V4, plus with all the testing Pirro has done over the last year.
May I recommend this Motomatters related pod to all racing fans - the most recent edition on the prospects for the 2019 WSBK season with Steve English and Neil Morrisonj provides helpful insights, including on why Chas and Eugene are running well behind Alvaro on the Ducati at the moment. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/paddock-pass-podcast-motorcycle-racing-motogp-world/id1041783390?mt=2&i=1000430176709
Maybe Bautista is used to roughing up a beast of a bike, to get his way around the track and his new ride is more manageable? I imagined that he would crack the top 5 in testing, but has exceeded expectations, now! Good on him! Anything to reign in the monotony of Master Rea...
Yes it's PI, but if you look back at Jerez and Portimao, Davies' times weren't anywhere near Bautista's except on Day 1 at Jerez.
At Jerez, Bautista actually ended up behind Davies by .482 on Day 1, but their best times were only in the 1:41s. On Day 2 Bautista finished +1.001 ahead of Davies once the pace picked up - Bautista was in the 1:39s. At Portimao Bautista ended day 1 +1.1 on Davies, and day 2 +1.5. Here Davies was +1.9 on Day 1, and +1.4 on Day 2
For me there are a lot of maybes. Maybe Bautista is actually that fast - he did have 12 top 10s last year, and 3 of those were top 5s. Maybe Davies, Laverty and Rinaldi just haven't found a setting they like yet. Time will tell, but it's odd to see them so far off Bautista's times - I was expecting Davies and Laverty to be much closer to the top of the timesheets with how much Ducati hyped the V4, plus with all the testing Pirro has done over the last year.
Let's see if Alvaro can manage his tyres at that pace for a whole race...
I found myself falling into the testing times trap...... Good reminder about PI too. Always a leveler.