WorldSBK Indonesia: Bautista ‘calm with perfect’ tyre gamble

Maybe you have to have the best Ducati and crew out there, and also be as small and skilful as Alvaro Bautista, to opt for an SC1 front and an SCX-A rear tyre at a circuit as tyre hungry as Mandalika has been this WorldSBK weekend.

People were getting two laps out of their tyres in FP3 on Saturday morning, and having meetings about what to do about it on an organisational and team level. But despite all that, after Superpole found greatly improved conditions, on a racing line no wider than a standard single kitchen unit, the reigning World Champion went all maverick on his rubber choices and won the opening race.

He ran away to victory, in fact, with more life to spare from his tyres that most others. Many people went for the SC2 front and SC0 rear, but Bautista had all the cards he needed with his way softer rear.

As the man himself explained, “During all the weekend, we were struggling a lot with the tyre consumption especially on the front, because in the practice after three or four laps… no front tyre. Most important to don’t stress too much especially at the beginning the tyre, because if you stress too much, then you cannot recover. So I just tried to stay calm in the first laps.”

An errant Michael Ruben Rinaldi crashed at turn one, lap one, and nearly collected a few riders on the way, including Bautista. “I was lucky in the first corner because my teammate missed the brake point and was very close to touch me,” he admitted. “When I was behind Toprak [the early leader, starting from pole position], I didn’t want to disturb the tyre. I tried to be very, very smooth also in the rear. At the same time, I could see him. I think he was doing more or less the same because I saw him and he was very smooth, not pushing