SBK, Bautista: "Toprak? I tried to close, but he was going to try anyway."

Having come within a step of success in the Superpole Race, Alvaro Bautista regained victory with a sumptuous performance in Race 2, thanks to which he managed to seal his 60th World Superbike victory. An achievement that acquires even more value in light of the difficulties experienced at the beginning of the season and that certifies the Spanish champion's newfound condition.

"I like this championship because it is not like last year, when here I already had a 1" margin after three laps. Here I had to push for all the laps while trying to safeguard the tires. It was also like that in the Superpole Race, where I enjoyed it because there were so many riders fighting," commented Alvaro, talking about the message sent to his rivals with today's success: "The only message here is for myself, that I am back and can fight for the win. But it is also for my team, that they have to work harder to give me what I need to go faster, because I am even hungrier than last season and I want to be competitive and fight to win."

As eager as ever, the 39-year-old entered the fight for victory as early as the short race, thanks to a splendid comeback from 11th place on the grid.

"I really enjoyed the battle this morning, only victory eluded me at the last corner. I knew Toprak was going to try no matter what trajectory I took, so I tried to close a little bit but not too much because I didn't want to go over the curb and give him space," he recounted. " I tried to manage and he came in not to make the corner but to pass me, so I found myself off the trajectory, where there was little grip. I was still happy with the performance, because handling in long races is one of my strengths, but it was not easy to start behind in a race like the Superpole Race, where everyone is pushing. So I'm very happy that I still managed to climb up and take the lead."

A different script from the one seen in Race 2, where it was Alvaro who made the difference.

"In the afternoon, I decided to change tire choice and mount the SCX and it worked. In the first lap I was really slow and I thought that if no one was going to pass me it meant they were happy with the pace and that I should maintain that pace until the middle of the race, so as not to wear out the tire too much, and then push a little more," he said, explaining his strategy. "I kept my composure when Nicolò passed me thinking it was normal that he wanted to try, but I also decided to lower my pace by 2 or 3 tenths because I was going really slow and I was saving my tires a little too much. Once I got him back, I took the lead and kept up my pace. I'm very happy with the win, because I was able to be very precise and focused throughout the race, but also because, step by step, my feeling with the bike is coming along."

Day after day, Bautista has managed to improve his feeling on the Panigale, although he still cannot say he is completely satisfied, as he admitted when talking about the step forward made during the weekend.

"The strange thing is that the 2023 bike was a different model from the previous year's bike, but it worked well with a different set-up than the 2022 bike, while this one is the same as the 2023 bike, but from the first day I couldn't ride like last year and I felt a big improvement using a set-up more similar to the one from two years ago ," the Ducatista analyzed, " Beyond the set-up I have to use, the important thing is that I can ride the bike even if I still can't do it exactly as I would like, because I don't have the stability of last year and the same support from the tire. We have to try to figure out why and solve it."

Battling first with Razgatlioglu and then with teammate Bulega, Alvaro then gave his views on dueling on the same bike or between different brands.

"When you fight with someone who has the same bike as you, the problem is that the weaknesses and strengths are the same. That makes it more difficult to attack, but easier to defend ," he said. " When you fight against another manufacturer, on the other hand, you have maybe a big advantage in one point and a big disadvantage in another, so it's difficult either way. I like to fight with any driver and any manufacturer, so I have no preference."

Automatic Translation by DeepL