Alvaro Bautista and Ducati presented themselves at Donington as championship leaders, but they were both aware that the British track was not particularly friendly to the Panigale V4R. However, at the end of the fifth round of the season, the Spaniard is still leading the standings after managing to capitalize on a complicated weekend.
The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider ran into Race 1 in the first real mistake of the season, ending up on the ground while he was in a fight with Jonathan Rea. In the crash he injured his right hand, suffering the pain in the two races on Sunday. With a physique not at 100%, the fourth and second places in the Superpole Race and Race 2 respectively were even more satisfying: “We knew this was going to be a difficult weekend, first of all because Ducati has always suffered a bit here. and then because Toprak and Yamaha are very strong and Jonathan is at home. We couldn’t have had top performance and we would have had more opponents than in other races because this is the home track for many. But I’m happy because we were more competitive than we imagined. It was a shame about the crash, in the end it was my mistake, that corner is critical, full of holes and maybe I should have kept a little more safety there. But I learned ”.
Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
In a weekend entirely dominated by Toprak Razgatlioglu, Bautista was still a great protagonist, managing to put his Ducati wheels ahead of Jonathan Rea’s in Race 2, an even more admirable feat when you consider the conditions in which he rode: “Today in the Superpole Race it was tough, we had a different tire from the others, I didn’t think I could hold out for the whole race, but I succeeded. However, after the crash on Saturday, our goal was to secure something. In the fall on Saturday I also took a blow to the right hand and it is a bit swollen. I fell asleep a bit and I didn’t have much sensitivity ”.
“Also in Race 2 it was the same thing”, continues Bautista. “Halfway through the race my hand started to fall asleep and I felt a bit of pain. However, I concentrated my efforts to endure. Today was difficult, at Turn 8 of the first lap I was about to fall, I saved the fall with my elbow. From that moment on, I told myself that I had to finish the race. I’m happy because we saved the weekend, Saturday’s crash was a shame, but it’s the races, we learned and we hope we won’t make this mistake again ”.
Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pata Yamaha WorldSBK, Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team WSBK, Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Toprak Razgatlioglu was unwittingly allied with Alvaro Bautista this weekend, preventing Jonathan Rea from winning and closing the gap in the standings. In fact, the Spaniard is still the leader with a 17-point advantage over the Kawasaki rider, but he must also start paying attention to the Turkish. If Donington is just the beginning of the rebirth, an additional opponent arrives from a world championship standpoint: “I think the championship is very good. I think everyone is happy that Toprak is back to the level he was at last year. It seems that he was struggling a lot at the beginning of the year, but it’s nice to see him still like that. As we have always said, the championship is very long and with this race format you can win or lose a lot in just one weekend. Honestly, the championship does not worry me at the moment, my goal is to recover the problem in my hand in order to be 100% physically in Most, which is a track where I have never ridden with Ducati. It will be all to be discovered, I will have some difficulties, but I am confident that the base we have can help us and we can be competitive there ”.
The world championship is certainly important, but Bautista’s main goal right now is to check the condition of his hand. In the next few days he will undergo new tests to avoid fractures and try to reach top form in Most, the next appointment of the season scheduled in two weeks: “The hand is quite swollen, but it is normal after the effort of the race. Yesterday, immediately after the race, I took some exams and it seems that nothing is broken. But the truth is that being inflamed you don’t notice much if there is any small broken bone. I’ll pay another visit in a couple of days to make sure there’s nothing serious. Now the goal is to try to be 100% in Most ”.
#SBK #Stoic #Bautista #sensitivity #hand