The home round always has a special flavour, Alvaro Bautista knows something about it, who in Jerez de la Frontera, breathing the home air, also smelled the world championship. Yes, because the reigning world champion reconfirmed himself in Race 1 by dominating from the traffic lights to the checkered flag and defending the title with an incredible performance. Toprak Razgatlioglu’s attempts to stop the Spaniard’s race were to no avail, as he was now heading towards what, we can now say, is his second Superbike world championship in his career.
With this result, Bautista reaches Max Biaggi in terms of titles and is the first rider to win two consecutive world championships with Ducati since 1998-1999, when Carl Fogarty triumphed with the Borgo Panigale team. These are just some of the mind-boggling numbers of the Spaniard, who has lifted a great weight off himself and can now celebrate another milestone surrounded by the affection of his fans and his family: “I feel great! Especially now that some time has passed since the race, because as soon as it ends you still have the adrenaline. Now I’m starting to assimilate a bit of what we’ve achieved and I’m also happy to celebrate here at home with family, friends, all the fans. I won the last two titles in Australia and Indonesia, so very far from home. It’s good because you celebrate with the team, but it’s not the same as celebrating with family, with Spanish fans, with real friends. It’s a dream come true, because usually the last races are far from home, so I’m very happy to have won and the opportunity to do it here in front of them.”
The voice betrays the emotion, he can finally shake off the pressure he carried with him. Becoming world champion is not trivial, but repeating it is even less so and Bautista knows this: “Winning a title is special, but defending it is even better. It’s difficult and winning it at home is incredible. Many said that 2 points were enough for me, but I just wanted to get on track and wasn’t thinking about the points, the result or the championship. I just wanted to have fun, just be me and the bike. From the outside everyone told me to stay calm, but I’m the rider and I know what I have to do.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati
“It seems like everyone wants to help you, but in reality you feel better when you’re on the motorbike and you’re alone”, claims the reigning champion, who appreciates everyone’s help, but the best moment was experienced while he was brushing the curves alone Jerez. “I stayed focused in the race, I didn’t make any mistakes and this was the important thing because it wasn’t easy, some sections of the track were still wet. I managed to keep calm and to win the world championship by winning the race is crazy, you can’t ask for more. I felt good from the start, then obviously in the last laps I started to think a bit about the championship, but I think it’s normal. Now I can relax more.”
A dominated but not predictable championship for the rider from Talavera de la Reina, who had to deal with two tough opponents. We are talking about the six-time world champion Jonathan Rea, who however soon dropped out of the fight, and Toprak Razgatlioglu. The latter managed to take the fight for the title to the last round and induce a mistake in Bautista, who in the second part of the season found himself facing a very fit Toprak. However, both Rea and the Turk celebrated the world champion on the lap of honour, going on to congratulate me: “They complimented me, even if we fight a lot on the track for victories and titles, but we respect each other.”
“I also complimented them because they are incredible rivals. Above all, Toprak was a very tough opponent this year in the second part of the championship, with him you can never relax because if you are satisfied, he is always there. He always attacked and I could never settle for a lower position. It’s incredible that despite all the victories we’ve achieved this year, he’s managed to keep the title fight alive this far. Therefore I also congratulated him on this season and on the great fight we had”, concludes Bautista, who in his joy for the world championship never misses an opportunity to underline the value of his rivals.
#SBK #Bautista #Winning #title #special #defending