Alvaro Bautista “nearly crashed 12 times!, was over the limit” in Race 1

Alvaro Bautista was in the mix for victory at the Misano WorldSBK round in Race 1, before losing touch with Toprak Razgatlioglu, and then team-mate Nicolo Bulega.

Bautista had to settle for third spot after admitting he nearly crashed ‘10 or 12 times’, throughout the race.

Speaking after the race, a disappointed Bautista said: “Conditions are different every year and the level of the category is really high. We worked to get a good feeling with the bike but it’s still not as we wanted.

“Today, with the really hot conditions, I struggled to stop the bike especially on the front tyre.

“In the first few laps, I couldn’t push really hard because every time I tried to force the front, I lost it, and I had many slides in a lot of corners. It was really difficult.

“The only thing I could do was try to get to the end and get the maximum I can. 

“After mid-race, the pace was similar to the leader and the guys in front, but the problem was I was over the limit.

“I tried to push more, lost the front and I nearly crashed 10 or 12 times! The only thing was to finish the race, try to get more information and some references.”

Bulega rues bad start

Had he not been stuck behind Bautista and Remy Gardner once Razgatlioglu took the lead, Bulega could have challenged the BMW rider as his pace was very similar until the end of the race.

But Bulega, who felt like he could go with Razgatlioglu, believes he got into second spot too late to have a chance.

“Unfortunately, my start was not so good and then I had to overtake some riders, so I lost a lot of time,” added Bulega. 

“When I overtook the other riders and I got into second, my pace was good. I also had a little bit of belief that I could overtake Toprak, but it was too late.

“He never gave up. He had a fantastic race. It’s my first race in Italy in WorldSBK, with a podium and almost pole position this morning, so if the weekend is going well.

“In the beginning, I lost a lot of time. I was much faster, but it was impossible to overtake. You can never know how the race will go.”