Bautista hits out at Rea - ‘Manoeuvre was out of limits, this wasn’t a mistake’

Alvaro Bautista has hit out at Jonathan Rea following an incident in race two at Magny-Cours that resulted in the WorldSBK championship leader crashing out; ‘this wasn’t a mistake, he intentionally [hit] me’.

Robert Jones

11 Sep 2022

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Magny-Cours

In position to challenge Toprak Razgatlioglu for a second WorldSBK win of the weekend, Bautista instead suffered his second race-ending crash of the season after coming to blows with Rea on lap three.

With Bautista and Razgatlioglu combining for 11 straight wins prior to race two, Rea appeared desperate to make a move towards the lead of the race, which was highlighted in his aggressive overtake on Bautista.

As the pair approached turn 13, Rea dived for the inside line while attempting to open up the corner as much as possible.

But with Bautista committed to holding the racing line, contact was inevitably made as the six-time champion hit the Spaniard’s right leg.

Clearly angered by the manoeuvre which cost him a likely podium, if not race win, Bautista had strong words for Rea post-race.

“The manoeuvre was out of the limits, for me. This wasn’t a mistake from Jonathan, he intentionally came [hit] to me,” added the Ducati rider.

“I think it’s unacceptable, these kinds of things, coming from any rider but especially coming from a great champion like him.

“This kind of action, he showed he’s very fast, very brave, he’s a champion. He won in the past, he wins, he stayed at the front, but he showed that a champion cannot do this kind of action.

“For me, it’s unacceptable. It’s nice for the Championship but, for me, it’s strange for me that if the stewards consider that it was a bad manoeuvre from Jonathan and they gave him a Long Lap Penalty, I think, it’s not enough. I got out of the race and he finished in fifth place; I think it’s not fair.”

Rea ‘really sorry’ for mistake

Following the incident, Rea found himself tangled up in a fierce battle with Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who was also very firm in his overtakes throughout race two.

Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista, French WorldSBK, 11 September

After swapping positions on lap four, Rinaldi completed a hard move on Rea at turn 15 [lap five] which resulted in the latter losing drive and positions to team-mate Alex Lowes and Scott Redding.

That wasn’t it for Rea as the Kawasaki rider - who at this point was handed a Long-Lap penalty - also felt the wrath of Loris Baz a few laps later when he attempted to re-join the track at full speed, while Baz was fighting Andrea Locatelli.

Baz then made a move on Rea at the same corner that Bautista crash out at before looking back at the Superbike legend and waving his arm.

Rea, who went to see Bautista directly after the race, said: "Firstly, I’m really sorry he went down. There was some contact there. I’ve been to see him already and offered him my apologies and gave my point of view.

"I listened to him so, for me, I’ve turned the page now. I arrived at Turn 13 with zero bad intentions. I only had to make a pass; I knew that Toprak would be the guy with the pace.

"I tried to make a good last sector before the long back straight. I went down to the inside, he committed to the apex so, of course, there was contact.

"For me, it wasn’t an over the line manoeuvre. I made my apex. I didn’t blow my own corner.

"Of course, I’m sorry he lost points; I don’t want to ride in this way. I got the penalty. I didn’t know whether to expect something or not and I had to take it."