Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) produced an epic ride to second place in the treacherous conditions at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on Saturday afternoon in Race 1 of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. Having found the going tough in the rain in Superpole earlier in the day and after starting the race in 17th place, he admitted he even surprised himself with his own strong pace when the rain came again in the afternoon.
The 2022 and 2023 WorldSBK title winner has recently expressed having an improved feeling with his Ducati Panigale V4R on the visits to Most and Portimao, yet that feeling was gone in the Magny-Cours rain on a wet set-up as he qualified on the sixth row. With Race 1 starting in mixed conditions Bautista lined-up on slick tyres and made a quick change to wets as soon as the rain reappeared.
Having seen his Ducati teammate Nicolo Bulega and old rival Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) crash out on the first lap Bautista also had a ‘moment’ at the chicane seconds later, but he held his nerve to produce a highly astute ride, to eventually bring it home 8.288s behind race winner Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for an unexpected podium result.
“Well it was a big challenge starting in 17th!” he stated afterwards. “I didn’t have a good feeling in the wet in the Superpole and I don’t know why. We had to be very careful in some areas in the race, like in the final chicane where we saw a big crash on the first lap. I nearly crashed there too but I was lucky.”
On the timing of his visit to pitlane to switch onto wet tyres, he explained, “When I saw the first drop of rain I thought ok you have to enter because it was dark and the rain was coming so I was the first one to go in. I think it was the right choice. Then the feeling was not too bad and I was able to push harder than I had in Superpole, I saw my lap time and it was not too bad. After that I just tried to survive in the end!”
The experienced Spaniard reflected on the result overall, saying, “At the end I’m very happy with second position after starting from 17th, in a flag-to-flag, racing with wet tyres and wet conditions with a dry set-up. I’m really, really happy. Sincerely I was surprised with the feeling and the lap time, it was a good surprise for me. I was able to push and have some confidence.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s Tissot Superpole Race where he will start in 17th once again, he added, “We’ll see with the weather, it seems like it will be good, at least dry. In Superpole starting from the back in the dry it will be very difficult, more difficult than in the wet. I’ll try to get the best start possible, gain as many positions as possible and try to get a better position on the grid for Race 2.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com