WorldSBK newcomer Alvaro Bautista has discovered promising changes in his Ducati Panigale V4 R following the first official pre-season test at Jerez in Spain this week.

The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider finished up fourth overall on the timesheets with a personal best of 1m39.620s, marking a positive start to his transition to the Superbike category after years of challenging the MotoGP World Championship.

“It’s been a couple of positive days,” Bautista declared. “After the winter break, it was important to get back on track, in order to readjust to the speed but also to get accustomed to the new bike. The new tarmac made it a bit more difficult for us. The grip was very low and so were the temperatures, so we couldn’t find a good feeling in day one.

“Today, however, we managed to work better. The track improved and it was warmer outside. We’re still focusing on riding position and the base setup in general. We tried some changes that I’ve liked, and now we’ll make more evaluations at Portimao, a track that I don’t know, so it’ll be very interesting.”

The Spanish ace will be out on track again in Portimao, Portugal, for two more days of testing with the WorldSBK contingent, scheduled for 27-28 January.