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Bautista not anxious to seal WSBK title early in Mandalika

Alvaro Bautista says he does not feel any pressure to seal his maiden World Superbike crown for Ducati with a round to spare this weekend at Mandalika.

Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati

Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The Spanish rider arrives at the penultimate round of the season with a comfortable 82-point lead, meaning he could afford to lose 20 points to nearest rival Toprak Razgatlioglu over the course of the weekend in Indonesia and still be crowned champion ahead of next weekend's Phillip Island finale.

Bautista could even win the title as early as the first race at Mandalika on Saturday if he wins the race and Yamaha rider Razgatlioglu doesn't finish inside the top seven.

Despite the fact he is closing on a first Ducati WSBK title since his countryman Carlos Checa's 2011 triumph, Bautista insists he won't change his approach this weekend, and expects a challenge on his first visit to the newly-resurfaced semi-street venue aboard the V4 R Panigale.

"Sincerely, I don't feel nervous," said Bautista, who raced at Mandalika last year aboard a Honda.

"It will be our first time with Ducati, so we have a lot of work to do, especially on Friday to find a good reference, the setup of the bike, the gearing. For sure we have to work like we did in Argentina.

"Also we have a new asphalt, so we'll have to see how the grip is, how dirty it is. For sure we have to put some rubber on the track, so FP1 will be difficult to understand anything for the race weekend.

"For sure it won't be an easy weekend. I won’t have time to think about the championship or match point, I think it’s better to be focused on the real problems we have and then we try to do our best, to work as best as possible, and let's see what happens."

 

Should Bautista seal the deal this weekend at Mandalika, it would follow just days on from Francesco Bagnaia winning Ducati its first MotoGP riders' title since 2007 in last weekend's Valencia finale.

"It would be nice to make it a double," said Bautista. "But for me sincerely it doesn't matter whether it’s here or Australia, the important thing is that we get it.

"In any case, the championship is a consequence of the work, so first of all we have to be focused, think about nothing and do our best."

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