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"Our pace was there to fight for the podium…" – Bautista laments Lap 1 incident after pulling off epic P16 to P5 comeback

Saturday, 17 May 2025 14:44 GMT

    • The Spanish rider was caught up in a racing incident on Lap 1 at the opening chicane but was able to recover from 16th to fifth

    Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) pulled off a remarkable comeback in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Autodrom Most, finishing P5 after running as low as 16th on the opening lap. The #19 started from tenth but was caught up in a Lap 1, Turn 2 incident which dropped him down to 16th before he fought his way back to claim fifth after a last-lap pass on fellow Ducati rider Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team).

    Bautista had his worst Tissot Superpole session of the season as he only managed tenth in the 15-minute session, putting him on the fourth row for the start. At the first chicane, Bautista appeared to make a move to avoid hitting riders around him, only for Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and then Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) to go down, with Bautista falling to 16th place.

    From there, he started to fight his way through the field. He ended Lap 1 in 15th place having passed Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing) on that lap and, two laps later, gained two places as he moved ahead of Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Bahattin Sofuoglu (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team). Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) and Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) were demoted over the next two laps by the two-time Champion, who was running in P10 by the end of Lap 7.

    His fightback didn’t stop there though. He got ahead of six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) for P9 on Lap 8 before he spent the next few laps closing up on Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC), who he overtook on Lap 11. Progress was a bit slower by this point for Bautista, before moving ahead of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) for seventh on Lap 16. Three laps later and he was ahead of Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) before his final pass came on Lap 22 at Turn 1, when he moved ahead of Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team).

    Explaining what happened at the start and his comeback, Bautista said: “Here at Most, the first two corners are always tricky because we arrive together and it’s easy to have a situation like this. Today, I was lucky I didn’t crash, because I had to close the throttle a little bit as Vierge was on the inside. Then somebody hit me really hard from the back. When I nearly crashed to the right, I saw a found a bike without a rider! It hit me again and it put me back on track. I was a bit lucky not to crash.

    “After that, Most isn’t an easy track to overtake because we have a lot of changes of direction, and a lot of flowing areas and it’s not easy. I tried to keep calm and not be nervous; just finish my race and get my pace and confidence. The first laps, I didn’t feel good. I struggled a lot especially when I had to release the bike, because the bike felt like it would push me out and I was struggling a lot to turn in the corners. I nearly crashed a couple of times due to this because I lost the front. Lap after lap, it improved, and I got more confident. I started to pass other riders and when I had some free track, I was able to push hard. When I arrived at other riders, it wasn’t easy to overtake. I think we are happy because the performance was good, and our pace was to fight for the podium. I’m happy with my feeling and the confidence on the bike.”

    How will Bautista far on Sunday at Most? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 30% off!