Bautista makes ‘small step, but not enough to run at the front’ in race two

Alvaro Bautista finishes a disappointing San Juan WorldSBK round for Honda with tenth place in race two, while team-mate Leon Haslam could only manage 11th. 

The Spanish rider, who won race one with Ducati on his last visit to the Argentine venue (2019), was considerably off the pace all weekend, a surprise given his impressive form of late.

Heading into the weekend Bautista had finished at least one race inside the top six since round seven in Navarra, however, the best Bautista could manage was the above-mentioned race two result.

Despite making a ‘small step’ from Saturday to Sunday, the ‘feeling’ Bautista had, or lack thereof, was the main reason for his and Honda’s overall struggles. 

"Today we tried to improve our feeling with respect to yesterday because I’ve been struggling all weekend here to be honest," said Bautista following Sunday’s action.  

"By making some adjustments to the electronics, we took a small step forward and my pace improved a little bit in the Superpole race as a result. 

"Then in race two we made another small step in terms of feeling, and I was able to maintain a more consistent pace, almost one second faster than I had been up until that point. 

"Let's say that we have progressed during the weekend but unfortunately not enough to run closer to the front. We’ve struggled at this track, yes, but I think that the work completed and the information gathered will be useful to the technicians in the future. 

"I thank HRC as always because they continue to work really hard. Now we have time to rest up after so many weeks and races in a row. It’s almost a month until the last round in Indonesia, at a track that is new for everyone, so we will see; it’s always interesting to discover a new track."

San Juan was one of the first weekend’s since Donington Park (round four) in which team-mate Leon Haslam looked more comfortable than Bautista. 

The former 2018 BSB champion took two tenth place results, before finishing just behind Bautista in race two. 

So although the results weren’t drastically better than that of his team-mate, they were what Haslam expected. The Honda rider will also be in Barcelona on Wednesday to have ‘minor surgery’ on his right bicep tendon. 

The British rider added: "To be honest, the result was essentially what we expected. I struggled over the last six laps or so in race two, as we had a similar brake problem as in the previous race, but generally the bike was quite stable and Alvaro and I were together for a good part of the race. 

"I finished all three races in tenth or eleventh place, which is more or less where we thought we’d be here; we did what we could. 

"On Wednesday I will be in Barcelona for a minor surgery on my bicep tendon (right arm), something we’ve been managing during recent rounds, and then, if the recovery is as quick as it should be, I’ll be fit for Indonesia where I hope to finish the season strong."