Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista has changed his tone ahead of Laguna Seca’s ninth round of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), the recently demoted points leader certain the American circuit won’t play into this favour this weekend.

The Spaniard, who once held a 60-point lead following a dominant start to the series, has seen his former advantage diminish at recent rounds with an array of crashes, allowing four-time defending champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) to overcome him in the championship standings.

“Unfortunately because of my crashes we are now in second place in the standings, which might be interesting for the championship but not so much for me,” said Bautista.

“If I look at the layout of Laguna Seca, for sure I can say that it’s not one of the best tracks for us, because when we have bumps, and uphill and downhill sections, we could struggle, but like I have been saying all year I have no expectations. I prefer to go there, see what happens, start to work hard with my team and get the maximum from the weekend.”

Bautista holds down second in the standings, 24 points behind newly-appointed leader Rea.