The factory Ducati rider starts the final round tied ✃with outgoing champion Toprak Razgatli💫oglu on 14 race victories so far this year.

While Bautista recovered from an FP1 spill at the newly-named Miller Corner (Turn 4) to g♏et the upper hand over Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha, he was beaten to the top spot by Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea in both sessions.

“I had a small crash at Turn 4 this morning,” Bautista said. “I went a bit off of the line and I lost the front. The only thing is that I couldn’t finish the practice but fortu♎nately, it was nothing serious.”

• Rea: ‘Target is to be there at t𒐪he end, still fighting꧅ for second with Toprak’
• Australia WorldSBK FP2 Results: Rea denies Bautista latওe on

As ever at Phillip Island, tyre endurance is sure to be a꧂ k♍ey issue in the full length races, providing the dry and sunny conditions continue.

“Today, we had two new tyres from Pirelli so it was important to under🍰stand the tyres,” Bautista said. “In the morning I started with the B option; we did a few laps and I understꦐood more or less the potential and the feeling with the bike.

“ This afternoon, we tried both tyres but in the first run, I tried the A solution and I fe𝓀lt quite comfortable, so we decided to keep💜 working with this tyre because for me, it means a better feeling on the bike.

“In the end, it co𓂃uld be an option for the race if it💟 doesn’t rain.

“I think it’🦩s been a positive Friday because we worked on th💧e pace, and I felt good on the bike.”

"I am happy because the raꦡce pace is incisive. I think we have a good base aheꦛad of the races even though the weather conditions could mix things up starting from tomorrow.

“In any case, we are ready to race in any conditions♔🅠.”

Razgatlioglu, who needs to fend off Rea to secure title runner-up, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:was third in FP1 andꦦ fourth in FP2.

Bautista’s team-m🌟ate Michael Rinaldi was tenth fastest.