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Alvaro Bautista’s race for the title starts again from Campiglio. In the picturesque setting of the Dolomites, the Spanish rider unveiled the Ducati which he’ll be taking to the track in Jerez on Wednesday for the first tests of the new year. On his part, he’s really looking forward to the challenge that awaits him.
His rivals will be the usual but, this year, Alvaro will have to deal with the 7 kg ballast applied to his Panigale, due to the new weight limit regulation.
“Last year, I weighed 67 kg with my suit and, since I have to reach the minimum 80 kg imposed by the regulations, I have to apply 6.5 kg of weight to the bike,” he began. “During the winter, I tried to work a lot on a physical level, despite suffering with my neck because of the fall in Jerez. I managed to increase my muscle mass, but not that much. In the end, I can’t gain an extra 13 kg because, otherwise, I wouldn’t be a rider.”
Surely, with the 7 kg ballast, things change or nearly.
“For Ducati, the new regulation has positive aspects (ed. regaining 500 laps). For me, instead, it’s negative. In fact, the bike becomes much more difficult to ride, and the initial sensations weren’t positive. There’s more inertia. I can’t close the fast corners. I go long and I struggle. So we tried different solutions to figure out how to solve the problem. I hope that, in Jerez, the feedback from the work done by Ducati will be positive, because 7kg more at 200 km/h becomes a lot.”
Bautista is then asked if he thinks he’s been targeted.
“It’s not a rule against me, but I’m the only one with this ballast. Personally, I don’t think this rule is fair but, in the end, everyone agreed on it. Personally, I don’t think we need a minimum weight, but I accept it without crying, unlike the others, who’d do anything to see me weighed down.”
In the meantime, the challenge is ready to start.
“With all the changes this year, we’ll have to evaluate many things, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see the numbers on the field. When everything remains the same, it seems that winning is a habit, but all these changes give me new motivation.”
Andrea Iannone will also be there.
“I welcome him. He’s a fast rider. Let's see what he’ll do...”
Obviously, Rea and Toprak will want to do everything to get in the way of the champion in charge.
“I think both will be fast and ready to fight. But they won’t be the only ones. In fact, there’s also Locatelli, who was very fast last year. The same goes for Bulega. So, we’ll see.”
