Alvaro Bautista calls Race 1 at Most "the first race for me in 2024"

Off the podium in Race 1 at Most, but Alvaro Bautista was happier than at any point in the 2024 WorldSBK campaign.

Bautista suffered a three-place grid penalty due to slow-riding on the racing line in qualifying, resulting in a P10 starting slot.

However, Bautista made immediate progress before a late charge saw him move up to fourth.

Bautista, who again lost vital points to Toprak Razgatlioglu, has two wins to his resume in 2024, but Race 1 in Most was a breakthrough of sorts.

Speaking after the race, Bautista said: "We did not so bad in the Superpole but then I got penalised because I was slow on the line. Fortunately I did a good start and recovered a lot of positions. 

"The race was very tough because I never found the feeling I had in practice. 

"I tried to do my best but, also, I lost a winglet in the second corner and in the first laps the bike was working in a different way from the practices, especially in the right-hand corners. 

"The front wanted to close. In the first three/four laps I could not push that hard and I tried to recover the feeling. 

"The bike improved a little bit and could be more consistent with the lap times. 

"Then I battled with some other riders but the maximum I could achieve today was fourth. 

"We fought to our best but the feeling, as I said yesterday, improved a lot and for me this was the first race for me in 2024 because I never had this feeling before."

One of Bautista's main battles in Race 1 was with Yamaha's Remy Gardner.

The pair exchanged positions more than nine times in the opening laps, before that went into double digits when Bautista regained P4 late on.

Discussing the battle, Bautista added: "I fought with Remy at the beginning and at the end. In the first corner I was a bit stronger than him and could pass him. 

"In the flowing areas he could go faster, especially in the first part of the race he was stronger and could move the bike easier than me. 

"At mid-race he was a bit ahead of me and I could not catch him. Maybe at the end I could manage the tyres a bit better and catch him again and fight for fourth place."