• Alvaro Bautista and Ducati continued on their dream weekend streak by winning all three races at the Buriram Circuit in Thailand.

• That makes it six wins out six races, thus far.

• Defending champion Jonathan Rea put up a fight for the win but was bested by Bautista.

Alvaro Bautista rode his Ducati Panigale V4 R to maximum points after six 2019 Motul FIM WorldSBK races, after winning all three at the Buriram Circuit in Thailand.

Race 1

Defending champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) overtook Bautista into Turn 1. Bautista made up for the disadvantage on Lap 3 in Turn 3, but Rea cut back inside, and the pair collided. Bautista managed to control his bike, but it allowed Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to slip past.

The Spaniard repassed Lowes on Lap 4 and went after Rea. Bautista caught Rea and passed him with 12 laps to go, and made it stick. He romped away from his challenger to finish 8.2 seconds ahead.

1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Tissot Superpole Race

Rea took the holeshot this time but was passed by Bautista. The latter ran wide into Turn 3 was re-overtaken by Rea. But the Ducati rider fought back and retook the lead in Turn 4 and started pulling away.

Meanwhile, Alex Lowes started pressuring Rea. However, Rea made a massive effort to lose Lowes and slashed Bautista’s lead down under half-a-second. His determination also netted him the fastest lap.

Unfortunately, the red flag was shown just as the race was starting to heat up. Again, it was Turn 3 which provided the drama. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Racing) and Thitipong Warokon (Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team) collided in the hairpin. Warokon was sent to the medical centre and the hospital afterwards.

Bautista was pronounced the winner, followed by Rea with Lowes just behind.

1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

Race 2

Bautista didn’t want to hang around and scrap it out this time. So, he took off from the start and led all the way to the finish, leaving Rea to fight it out with Alex Lowes.

Bautista romped home to finish 10 seconds ahead of Rea and Lowes. His accomplishments equaled Neil Hodgson’s record of winning the first six races of the season in 2013.

Lowes’ teammate van der Mark held off Haslam’s intentions for a finishing order identical to Race 1 and Superpole.

1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Ducati Racing)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
3. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
5. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)