Andrea Dovizioso says he is “not surprised” stand-in MotoGP teammate Alvaro Bautista was able to fight the Australian Grand Prix podium on his first outing on the works Ducati GP18.
Nieto rider Bautista was called up to replace the injured Jorge Lorenzo – who has recently undergone surgery on a left wrist fracture and has been absent from the past three races – for the Phillip Island round, after Ducati test rider Michele Pirro was unavailable due to a test and plans to put Pramac's Jack Miller on the bike were altered.
Qualifying 12th after a an early crash in Q2, Bautista quickly made progress from the fourth row and soon found himself battling for the podium, running as high as second at one stage ahead of Dovizioso, before eventually fading to fourth.
Dovizioso was “not surprised” to see this performance from Bautista, as he believes is “one of the top riders” in terms of riding style.
“Not really surprised, because I've known Alvaro for a long time,” said third-placed Dovizioso.
“I think his riding style, he is one of the top riders. I think he show from when he race in 250cc and every MotoGP championship, he is one of the top riders regarding that.
“So with a good bike, with a good base, he just have to ride in a good track for him because I think he's really good in a track where the consumption of the rear tyre is very high and all the long corners.
“So the result was that, I'm not too surprised and I'm happy for him, happy for the team because we scored important points today.”
Bautista's podium charge ended on the penultimate lap when he made a mistake while downshifting, which has been an issue all weekend for him as he got to grips with the GP18, but was nevertheless happy with what will likely be his final factory MotoGP outing for the foreseeable future.
“I was fighting for the podium until the end, but just when it was two laps to go I made a mistake with the gears again, like all the weekend; I struggle a lot to adapt myself to the gearbox,” said Bautista, who will join Ducati as a works rider in World Superbike next year.
“Two laps to go I made the mistake and I lost the distance with Dovizioso and Iannone, and I miss the chance to fight for the podium.
“But in any case, I'm so happy because I felt really well during the race and it was not easy because after the three crashes during the weekend, for sure the confidence before the race was not 100 percent.
“But in any case, I can manage the situation and I can do a good race. I'm so happy, thanks to Ducati for the chance and we will see in the next one.
“But at the moment I'm so happy because it's not easy to arrive in one weekend with a new bike, new team and fighting in the race for the podium.”
Ducati confirmed during the Phillip Island weekend Pirro will be placed on stand-by to race in Malaysia next week should Lorenzo still be unfit, while Bautista will return to his Nieto GP17 occupied by teammate Karel Abraham for the Australian weekend.
