Alvaro Bautista is bracing for a tricky round at Laguna Seca with the new Aruba.it Racing Ducati V4 R given where his team has struggled so far this season as he looks to fightback in the World Superbike championship against Jonathan Rea.

After losing the championship lead to Rea at Donington Park, with the Kawasaki rider turning around a 53-point deficit into a 24-point lead heading to Laguna Seca, Bautista feels the points have swung due to his falls rather than outright performance changes between Kawasaki and Ducati.

Bautista has crashed in three races across the Jerez, Misano and Donington Park stretch having not finished off of the podium in the opening 15 races before that.

But with the US round coming up, Bautista is concerned his Ducati’s weaknesses could be exposed at Laguna Seca.

“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,” Bautista said. “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.

“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.”

Bautista has collected a total of 52 points across the last seven races, while in the same run Rea has notched up 137 points.