Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) weekend in the quaint French countryside at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was anything but peaceful, as while he faced a multitude of setbacks, the Spaniard managed to end the weekend on a high note. With three MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rounds left to play, Bautista is looking to salvage his season and recoup his third place in the Riders’ Championship to take home bronze in his final season as a factory rider.

Bautista's Race 2 fourth-place finish did well to ease the pain of his otherwise point-free weekend. It allowed him to stabilise his points loss behind Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in third and fourth. With three rounds to go, featuring circuits he loves, the Spanish rider still holds out hope for a late play to get into P3 and take home some Riders’ Championship silverware.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS: “By Race 2, my only wish was not to have any more incidents or problems”

After his Hungarian Round concluded with a trip into the gravel in Race 2, Bautista was hoping for a chance to build on his improving form. In the last six races before France, he had landed three podiums and one P4; however, the other two results were crashes, a problem that has continued to haunt him over the last two seasons. Unfortunately, Magny-Cours held even more gravel in store for him, as his first two races saw him crash out. Fortunately for the two-time World Champion, he had a heroic recovery run in Race 2 in which he climbed from a P14 start to finish in P4, sugarcoating what was otherwise a tough weekend.

“Saturday’s Race 1 ended for me after the first lap because of the incident with Vierge. Then, on Sunday morning, we were fighting for the top nine to improve our track position for Race 2, but again, another unfortunate incident occurred in which I crashed. So, for Race 2, my only wish was not to have any more incidents or problems. This was going to be difficult for us because we had been having a lot of problems since Friday. The feeling wasn’t the best. We tried some tests, then in FP3, I had a tech issue and couldn’t participate. When we got to the Superpole, I couldn’t do much to push for a strong lap. Since FP1, the weekend was a bit of a disaster. We made a modification for Race 1, but I couldn’t really try it before the crash. I returned not to compete, but to use the race as a test. I started to feel much better then, which helped me on Sunday.”

BAUTISTA: “Overall, I think we should celebrate that position just a bit, given the context of the entire weekend”

After the struggles of the weekend up to that point, Bautista took a holistic approach in reflecting on his Race 2 triumph for P4, stating that there was progress made in the midst of the setbacks. That progress allowed him to showcase his speed with the Ducati Panigale V4 R, and while he wasn’t able to show it in the weekend’s first two races, he showed his affinity for managing his tyres late in races as well.

“In Race 2, I just wanted to finish and recover a good feeling with the bike. I started to feel better and enjoyed working up from the back. I had a lot of overtakes, which I enjoyed. By the end, I finished fourth, which wasn’t bad, but it wasn't the position I’d like to fight for. Overall, I think we should celebrate that position a bit, given the context of the entire weekend. When you miss a race, you don’t know how the feeling is going to be. The feeling with the bike seemed to change significantly over the weekend, given the crashes and lack of track time. By Race 2, we made a small adjustment in the setup, and it allowed me to feel a bit more consistent. When the tyres started to drop, we have an advantage. I can manage better in those moments. As the race goes on and the bike gets lighter, I can change directions more easily, and on a track like this with quick changes of directions, I feel it even more.

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