Álvaro Bautista closes the Superbike round in Estoril with a victory and two podiums. The Ducati is fast in a straight line, but suffers in slow corners.
About Luigi Ciamburro de Motoracing
Victory in race-1, third place in Superpole Race, second in race-2: this is how the third Superbike round in Estoril ends for Alvaro Bautista, which retains the lead in the ranking with 161 points. In the second Portuguese race, the real challenge was between the Spaniard on the Ducati and the Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea, the Northern Irishman winning on the last lap, before arriving in the final straight where the Panigale V4R had a clear advantage. The former MotoGP rider may be satisfied, but the calendar is still long and fraught with pitfalls.
C’est victoire mentale qui a été remportée lors de la première course samedi, avec une “remontada” qui a littéralement fait exploser le garage Ducati et les fans à domicile. Dans la course sprint, il a un peu trop souffert sur un asphalte semi-sec qu’il a dû affronter avec des pneus slicks. « Je n’avais pas les meilleures sensations, nous avons essayé de créer un cadre adapté à ces conditions mais cela n’a pas fonctionné. Je ne me sentais pas complètement à l’aise et j’ai évité une chute. Mais j’ai survécu en obtenant une bonne place sur la grille de départ de la course 2. »
The conditions were much better, although in the last sector there was a wet spot which put everyone on alert. He fought to the end against the Kawasaki ZX-10RR of the six-time world champion, with whom a final attack was to be expected... " He tried to overtake me, I blocked his way at the chicane, I closed the door, but he opened it. There wasn't much room to distance myself, but he did it. I lost ground after this maneuver. With Jonathan, you always know he will try at least once until the last corner. Ok, this time I didn't win, but I'm still happy. »
Alvaro Bautista: “on pourrait penser que le pilote n’est pas fort et que je ne gagne que parce que la moto est rapide dans les lignes droites"
During this Superbike weekend, it was clear that Ducati had a clear advantage in terms of power. But on the mixed race we need to find a better setting to follow Razgatlioğlu et Sale. It should be borne in mind that for Alvaro Bautista it was the first time at Estoril with a Panigale V4R. He was missing a few references and Johnny's experience did the rest. “ Everyone sees that I'm fast in the straight, but I have some problems during the rest of the lap », underlined the Spaniard. “ Between turns 8 and 12, I lost a lot against Toprak and Jonathan. Even then, I can't improve much because my bike has other strengths. In general, we are not very strong in the slow sectors. From the outside you might think that the rider is not strong and that I only win because the bike is fast on the straights. But I also have to ride in the other sectors and I struggle there. I don't care if people think I win because the bike is a rocket. I know the truth, I know where we need to improve and where we can move faster than others. »
During the first nine races of this Superbike World Championship, Bautista has always been on the podium and has already bagged four victories. No rider has been more consistent so far and the next meeting will be at the Misano circuit, Ducati's home race. “ I think it was a positive weekend, especially with the difficult track conditions we had today. At least we didn't make any mistakes and that's what matters. We must continue like this. »concluded the championship leader.
