Most’s weekend did not go according to plan for Alvaro Bautista, who suffered two crashes in the three races he contested. While he crashed in the Superpole Race on the last lap while trying to overtake Nicolò Bulega, in Race 2 he was hit by Danilo Petrucci, ending the last race a few meters after the start.
“The feeling with the bike was better on Sunday morning, I felt almost like last year, but on the last lap I tried to pass Nicolò,” explained the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati rider describing the dynamics of the crash in the Superpole Race. “He braked hard and I tried to brake even harder. At that moment I let off the brake a bit to enter and not hit him, but close the corner. I ended up in the gravel and fell. But I think it’s more normal for it to happen on the last lap than at the start. My mistake? My mistake was wanting to close and take the corner. For the rest I think it was a racing maneuver.”
The same thing almost happened in Race 2, where he didn’t have time to finish the first lap: “A situation like this is very common in that corner, because you arrive very fast from the start. Turn 1 is very far away and we arrive fast, the strange thing was that it never happened first during the whole weekend. But I was unlucky to be there. When I braked I was third, but when I wanted to go in I saw Gardner on the inside, I gave him some space, but I felt a hit from the side”.
“I saw the replay and I saw that there wasn’t much space, but the rider behind has to be careful of the one in front. I spoke to Danilo immediately after the crash. He told me that someone touched him and, when I saw the replay, I noticed that he was braking very hard and couldn’t do anything. In any case it’s not a problem, in that corner it’s quite normal and these things can happen,” Bautista explained.
Despite two crashes over the weekend that dropped him to -104 in the championship from leader Toprak Razgatlioglu, Bautista believes that the Most round was much more positive than one might think. It seems that over the weekend a framework has been found for a base that will allow him to return to riding as fast as he would like: “Many say that it is a weekend to forget, but I also want to keep the good things. We have found something here that I like, we have taken a step forward. We tried it on Friday, on Saturday we did other tests, but we have started to understand now how to work on it”.
“Especially after Race 1, with the data collected, some small changes were made to the bike on Sunday. The feeling was good, I’m happy and confident. It was the first time this year that I was able to ride the way I wanted and I’m happy about that. I can’t wait to race in the next races, because we can make more steps forward,” he said, without going into detail about the improvements.
104 points are difficult to recover and the Spaniard wants to keep his feet on the ground, also considering the overwhelming power that Razgatlioglu is showing: “The championship? At the moment I’m not thinking about it, especially because I don’t feel great with the bike, with the level I’ve had up to now it was impossible to think about it. I’ve been more focused on finding a solution and I can say that we found it this weekend. The important thing is to rebuild confidence and find a good base to be consistent and fast, at the moment for the next races that will come”.
However, the positivity with which the two-time Superbike world champion welcomed the innovations brought to Most could be an important clue about the future: “Honestly, I want to continue. We are talking to Ducati to renew the contract, I feel it is not right to end my career like this. I need to have fun again and feel strong on the bike. So, especially after this weekend in which we have clearer ideas, we can start from here to improve”.
“I am discussing the renewal with Ducati and that is my intention. My priority is certainly to stay in the same team, but it also depends on Ducati, not 100% on me. In 2019 it was my first year in Superbike, now I am a two-time world champion. It is a very different situation. The signature at WDW? It will depend on Ducati! If they want to do it there, they will give me what I want. Battistella has several options, but I cannot say what they are. In any case, there is a plan B”, he concluded.
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