Rookie Bautista heads Pirelli best Lap honours
After a phenomenal season that saw him finish runner-up, the Honda-bound Alvaro Bautista showcased his pace in an electric 2019 WorldSBK season!
2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship runner-up Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) has taken the Pirelli Best Lap Award for the year, setting an unprecedented 12 full-race fastest laps in WorldSBK action. The Spanish rider showed unrivalled pace over one race lap in 2019, nine of the first 11 race fastest laps went to Bautista, whilst his last one for the year would come in the opening duel at the Circuito San Juan Villicum in Argentina.
A new race format for 2019, three-race weekends meant that records would always be set in what has been a truly record-shattering season. With 37 races across 13 rounds (no Tissot Superpole Race at Assen or Race 2 at Imola), Bautista even set fastest laps at circuits he had never seen before, such as Portimao and San Juan. In terms of the overall WorldSBK history books, Bautista set a new record for fastest laps across a season, with 15 now the target.
Making the most of his rookie season on the all-new and nearly all-conquering Ducati Panigale V4 R, Bautista’s nearest rival was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on five, whilst Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) was third, with three. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) achieved two points for their fastest laps in full-distance racing, whilst Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) achieved one, at home at Donington Park in Race 1.
In World Supersport, 2019 World Champion Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) completed his Championship year with the Pirelli Best Lap, taking four fastest laps, of which two were in races he went on to win (Phillip Island and Imola). Unsurprisingly, his teammate was right behind him; Federico Caricasulo setting three fastest laps, whilst Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) matched that, with two of his coming in the final two races. Raffaele De Rosa (MV AGUSTA Reparto Corse) picked up just one fastest lap (MotorLand Aragon) to finish in fourth, whilst Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) was fifth.
Indulge in the 2019 WorldSBK season’s best bits and be prepared for 2020 with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
