SBK | Disappointment Bautista: “It didn't go as I expected”

Alvaro Bautista has accustomed us to unchallenged dominance, almost becoming the Max Verstappen of the Superbike World Championship. However, 2024 hasn't started as well as it finished last season and even in the Barcelona tests the reigning world champion has been chasing. Dominating the scene was his teammate Nicolò Bulega, from whom he remained quite distant on both days.

In the combined, at the end of the two days of testing in Barcelona, ​​the reigning world champion is only 18th, 1,399 seconds behind the leader. If on Day 1 the feeling wasn't so bad, the final day was particularly difficult for the Spaniard, who remained rather disappointed: “It wasn't the day I expected because from the morning I struggled more than on Day 1. I felt less grip on the tires and I had this feeling all day. The feeling with the bike wasn't very good either.”

Bautista also looks at the positive aspects and one of these is the fact that he is physically fit again. The accident that occurred during the November tests had affected the whole winter, but now he can breathe a sigh of relief at the thought that everything is behind us: “Physically I'm back! On Day 1 I had improved the feeling during the day, but the second day was worse than the first. I never got the feeling back, I don't know why. But I wasn't able to have a good feeling on the bike.”

“Particularly on gas turning, I struggle a lot. I have to put a lot of force on the bike and even the rear grip wasn't very high, so I pushed every time. The bike didn't slide well, so that was the main problem. The rear didn't help me in the corners,” explained the two-time World Superbike champion, going into detail on the aspects on which he struggled the most.

The tests have been archived and next week we start again with the championship, which begins its European season in Barcelona. The sensations at the end of the two days of testing are not excellent, however the race weekend always tells a different story: “The tests are one thing, the race weekend is another. I certainly felt much better in last year's tests. The pace was stronger, but this year it's different. We have to work and try to understand why I have this feeling and try to solve it.”