Chaz Davies: Alvaro Bautista ‘is incredibly talented, we have to give him credit’

Alvaro Bautista returns to a happy hunting ground this weekend in the form of Catalunya, where he has won the last six WorldSBK races.

But Phillip Island, which has also been a very strong circuit for Bautista in the past, was a struggle last month. 

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Challenges with the new minimum rider/bike weight limit rule have played a big factor in Bautista’s slow start to 2024.

But Bautista’s former team-mate Chaz Davies is expecting the Spaniard to show his best form going forward.

Asked about the differences in Bautista from when they lined-up together in 2019 to now, Davies told GPOne: “He’s changed a lot since then. He decided to change direction after two difficult years at Honda, which probably allowed him to a little the limit of the Pirelli tyres.

“He tried to push the package he had to the limit and get the best possible results, but the one between him and Aruba Ducati is truly a great combination.

“Alvaro is incredibly talented and makes a fantastic pairing with the Panigale V4 R, which I think manages to bring out all of his strengths.

“People like to talk about the bike and now there is also the new rule which is essentially made for Alvaro.

“But in the end he is the only rider who manages to get all the potential from the package and he has done so consistently in recent years. We have to give him credit for that.”

Once a rival to Bautista, Davies is now a rider coach for the two-time world champion and team-mate Nicolo Bulega.

Another rider that was a rival to Davies’ throughout his time in WorldSBK was Jonathan Rea, who endured one of his worst weekends ever in the championship at Phillip Island. 

Discussing Rea’s nightmare season-opener, Davies was left very surprised: “Considering the level I never imagined that Phillip Island could be such a disaster.

“It was a really tough round and I was sad to see him crash, but luckily he was okay.

“Johnny seemed to be doing well in the tests and even though he didn’t do anything special, he was in the top five.

“He probably still has to bond with the Yamaha because the Phillip Island weekend was a really difficult one.”