Alvaro Bautista failed to retain the WorldSBK lead at Misano. His two third places obtained on Italian soil were not enough to stop Toprak Razgatlioglu's momentum. By scoring his first hat-trick with BMW, Razgatlioglu became the new leader of the World Superbike Championship with 179 points, relegating Bautista to third place with a deficit of 24 points. But this meeting could just as easily have turned into a tragedy for the Ducati official.
Despite productive testing at Misano a few weeks before this round, Baptist failed to replicate these performances during the race weekend. The Spaniard encountered difficulties with his Ducati, especially when entering turns and braking. It was largely surpassed by Razgatlioglu and his teammate Nicolò Bulega, which also exceeded Baptist in the general classification at the end of the round WSBK de Misano.
The Italian track was also the scene of the first retirement of the season for Baptist, who had scored points in all races so far. The two-time Superbike champion lost control of his Panigale V4R during the Superpole Race, in the Tramonto bend (number 10). This pin on the right betrayed Baptist, causing a spectacular fall which almost turned into a serious accident.
Baptist tried desperately to catch the fall by hanging on to his handlebars, crossing the track from one side to the other, just when Andrea Locatelli et Andrea Iannone were coming behind him. Fortunately, both drivers managed to narrowly avoid it.
Alvaro Bautista: “ it was dangerous, because several drivers were passing right in front of me, it was very dangerous »
« I had a lot of problems braking the bike“, commented Alvaro after the Superpole Race. “ I've come to this turn, I tried to stop the bike, it's a turn with a lot of angle. I braked hard, and when I started to release the brakes a little, I lost the front tire and it was impossible to save the fall."
He continued: “ I started sliding without stopping and going towards the inside of the turn, I found myself on the inner sidewalk. It was dangerous, because several drivers were passing right in front of me, it was very dangerous." Álvaro Bautista added : " At that time I thought if someone hit me I would have been destroyed, but I was lucky. It was a stupid fall, these things happen sometimes. When you don't have a high-performance motorcycle, it happens more frequently."
Although the images of the fall of Baptist have not been broadcast on television, a camera installed in the internal circuit of Misano captured the dramatic sequence. Here they are... Recalling the drama that played out at Sepang in 2011.
