“This is the best I can do”

Alvaro Bautista went up to the podium of Race 1 of WorldSBK within Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The reigning world champion, who started from 14th position on the grid due to a three-position penalty for going slow in the Superpole, completed a spectacular comeback that ended with an overtaking. Andrea Iannone in the final laps to take third place.

“I think that, if we had started without the penalty, which is a bit in doubt because I don’t know why… I’m not saying that we would have won the race, but surely in the first. I wish we could have lapped with a little more margin or a break so the tires wouldn’t be forced,” lamented the ‘1’.

“It’s never easy, especially because this track is very complicated from the start. You have to manage the tires. I want to push harder in the first laps to gain some positions but, at the same time , I have to conserve the tires ,” acknowledged the ng Talavera de la Reina.

Therefore, one of the Ducati He explained that “I tried to stay calm and manage the tires as much as possible. Behind the other drivers, in the big group, I had some problems at the front, which overheated. It was not turning well and I had to save and crashed with my elbow. Fortunately, I was able to continue. In the middle of the race, I was closing in on a lot of drivers and I think third is the best I can do.”

Asked about whether his fight with Danilo Petrucci prevent him from fighting for second position, the current world champion pointed out that “behind the other drivers, the front tire did not work as expected and I had difficulty braking hard or entering corners quickly. Some I’ve missed times. times behind other drivers because I couldn’t do the line I wanted. I don’t think that if I had passed him faster I would have been in second place. I think the best thing is to get of a podium, but It was a surprise for me.”