SBK | Bautista: “100th podium? Obtained by giving 100% every lap”

Alvaro Bautista entered the 2024 season as the man to beat as the reigning World Superbike champion. However, an injury late last year and a rule change that weighed him down on his Ducati complicated his path to a third world title. So early-season difficulties have paved the way for Toprak Razgatlioglu, who is dominating aboard the BMW.

But all this is not enough to stop the Spaniard, who is trying to defend his world title with all his strength: in Race 1 in Portimao he showed that he does not want to make life easy for his opponents and, after a difficult start in which he found himself in traffic in the middle of the group, he staged a comeback that led him to conquer second position at the checkered flag.

With his second place yesterday, the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider broke a new personal record: he achieved the 100th podium of his career in Superbike, an incredible figure achieved on a Saturday that was anything but easy: “I achieved my 100th podium by giving 100% in every single lap! My start was really bad. I think it was one of the worst starts of my life. I lost a lot of positions and had to recover”.

Despite what Bautista considers the “worst start of his life,” he showed incredible pace, which also suggests he could have won if he had started strong: “At the beginning I never thought I would be at the top because there were a lot of riders in front of me. I felt good on the bike. The sensations were very similar to last year. In Race 1 and the track conditions were difficult, it was hotter. I was able to push to the maximum.”

“I tried not to give up and to do my best. I went forward rider by rider. Each time I saw the leaders a little closer and so, for a moment, I thought that maybe the podium was not too far away. When I reached the leaders, I thought that the victory was close, but the energy was less than 20%! I managed to pass Petrucci, but catching Toprak was difficult because, in the fight with Petrucci, I went a little wide in a corner and lost a lot in the second sector. I am happy with my performance, unhappy with the start, but the positive thing is that the feeling with the bike is returning to how it was last year,” said Bautista, who is slowly rediscovering the excellent sensations aboard the Panigale V4R that he had in 2023.

Bautista then let himself go to memories and, after his 100th podium, he told which were the most beautiful: “I think all the podiums are very special. Maybe the first one, the first win in Australia in 2019 was very special because it was my first race in World Superbike, after many years in MotoGP. It was all new for me and I could do a hat-trick, so it was special. But every podium, every win, is special for whatever reason, but I think the first one is always the most special.”