Alvaro Bautista was even more critical of Honda on Saturday, at the end of the first WSBK race on the Misano track. The Spaniard has already made no secret of his disappointment since the off-season with the new CBR triple R, and now he is clearly displaying his dismay. A harsh assessment for a leading world manufacturer which, decidedly, is failing wherever it is entered in a world speed championship this year.
En MotoGP, the crisis situation is apparently recorded at HRC but the emergency situation must also be validated at WSBK. Honda, despite its firepower, is a damp squib in this 2021 season. This is going badly in Grand Prix and in WSBK nothing is better. It must also be said, as has already been noted Baptist, that it is the same people who take care of both programs.
The Spaniard had a complicated offseason, also reporting to his injured employer. But the bike is not up to par. The season began with electronic problems that sent the driver to the ground. HAS Misano, the former Grand Prix rider is suffering, so much so that he doesn't mince his words. After his sixth place, more than 14 seconds behind the winner on Ducati Rinaldi, Baptist thus confided in speedweek : " When it comes to the performance of our bike, I can't be happy », begins the teammate of Leon Haslam, only fourteenth.
« I suffered a lot in FP3, the bike was very unstable and bounced in the braking zones. After the tests I almost cried, I couldn't ride a motorcycle like that. We made some changes for Saturday afternoon and it probably helped that the track was warmer then with less grip. Saturday morning was a disaster. Even though I felt better in Superpole, I still had big brake problems because the bike was still pushing on the front wheel »
Bautista: “we didn't have these problems in Estoril and Aragon, I don't know where they come from”
« We didn't have these problems in Estoril and Aragon, I don't know where they come from » regrets the 2019 world vice-champion of the category, but it was with a Ducati. " I had a lot of trouble overtaking. I can't brake and the traction isn't great either. These are the same problems as always. I lose a few meters at the exit of the turn and am therefore too far before the next turn to be able to attack. If I have to overtake, chaos breaks out. When I have a free track, I can more or less control my pace. It's not super fantastic, but acceptable. But I was stuck during laps behind the other drivers which slowed me down a lot ».
A motorcycle difficult to master in general, impossible to impose on the competition in particular and complicated technical problems to identify in order to resolve them... The season is likely to be long for the couple Honda-Bautista...
WSBK Misano J2: race 1 classification
