The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Aragon specialist completed a medical miracle to compete at his home round less than two weeks after undergoing ankle surgery to repair damage which resulted from a crash the round prior at Most. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) was not going to be denied a trip to his old stomping grounds of MotorLand Aragon, as he not only climbed atop his Ducati Panigale V4R, but he stormed into Sunday, taking a pair of top eights to close the round.
“I felt my strength, but my mind was protecting it”
The two-time WorldSBK Champion had to undergo surgery to treat several fractures on his right ankle suffered in FP3 of the Czech Round. Going under the knife on Monday, May 18th, he only had 11 days of recovery until he again hopped on the bike on Friday for WorldSBK’s pair of Free Practice sessions. He hovered at P11 in both, and it looked as though his return may have been premature on Saturday morning when he fell to P16 in the Tissot Superpole session, more than a second and a half off from Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in P1. Starting Race in P15 due to Surra’s Back of Grid penalty handed to him by FIM WorldSBK Stewards in Race 2 at Most. the Spaniard was forced to retire on Lap 3 after suffering an issue with his bike, meaning he would have to wait until the weekend’s final day to score points.
On what it meant to him to be able to compete at Aragon and his Race 1 issue, Bautista said: “Before the weekend, I didn’t know if it would be possible to ride the bike. We started on Friday with an odd feeling; we wanted to start with a sprint, but it was impossible. I felt my strength, but my mind was protecting it, so I couldn’t use it to its full potential. With more time on the bike, that ‘protection mode’ went down, and I was able to push and improve my times. I want to say thank you to my team and my physio; we’ve worked really hard over the last 15 days, and this is the result of that hard work. The result on track doesn’t matter; the prize was to race here so soon after the crash. The only negative was the issue in Race 1. It was a weird issue with the brake, the liquid leaked out, something that doesn’t normally happen, but I’m very proud of my team in any case.”
“I was suffering in Race 2, especially when I saw four laps to go”
Bautista hit the ground running on Saturday, starting again from row five, 1 one position farther forward in P15 after Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) was ruled unfit with lingering wrist issues, yet with the bike back in working order, he wasted no time mapping positions lap after lap, sitting in P10 by Lap 3 of 10. It took him a lap to overtake Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) for P9, but his toughest task of the contest was his fight to come with Tommy Bridewell (Superbikes Advocates). Bautista closed the Lap 5 six-tenths gap down to just a tenth by Lap 7, nipping at the heels of the #46, but he was unable to make a move stick for P7, leaving him with a P8 finish after Lorenzo Baldassarri’s (Team GoEleven) late crash. Race 2 would prove to be the weekend’s high point, aided by his improved P8 starting position. He and Bridewell again threw down the gauntlet and battled across the first half of the race. Finally, the Spaniard overtook his fellow Ducati rider on the Turn 14-15 chicane of Lap 8. Two laps later, he struck on Rookie rider Albert Surra for P7 on Turn 12. American rider Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) had been following Bautista for the past two laps, gaining on the Ducati rider, until striking on the same Turn 12 to take P6 for himself. The #19 was not going to take that without putting up a fight; however, he returned the favour on the back straight into Turn 16 of Lap 13, but the Texan ran away with P6 after jumping inside on Turn 1 of the subsequent Lap 14.
On how he fared on Sunday with the still-recovering ankle, Bautista said: “Sunday was really hard. In the Tissot Superpole Race, starting from P15, I recovered many positions, so it was amazing for me. Before the Superpole Race, the maximum number of laps in a row I had done was five, so after the ten laps, my foot was destroyed. Fortunately, we had lots of time before Race 2. I was suffering in the last laps of Race 2, especially when I saw 4 laps to go, I tried to finish as best I could. I’m proud of myself and the people around me. I can’t confirm I’ll be 100% at Misano, but I think we are at around 60% right now.”
Bautista will return to Ducati’s home round at Misano next time out on June 12th! Catch all the action Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!