Bautista: Rea 'not a real champion… I have no interest in his apologies'

Bautista, who called Rea's aggressive turn 14 manoeuvre which resulted in the WorldSBK championship leader crashing out 'intentional', has doubled down on his claims that Rea knew what he was doing and that it was not a mistake. 

After winning race one and securing second in the Superpole race, Bautista was a clear favourite to challenge for the victory once again in race two. 

With a points lead of nearly 60 heading into race two, Bautista has instead seen his lead reduced to 30 by Toprak Razgatlioglu, who took his second consecutive win of the weekend. 

In no mood to accept Rea's apology, Bautista said: “I was lucky that I didn’t get hurt. I think today it was clear that it was intentional; that’s the problem. 

“He knows very well what he did, that he got what he wanted to do. I don’t have anything to say to him. I think he showed today that he’s very fast. He wins, the last few years not as much as before, but I think this kind of action is not proper for a champion. 

“He won many championships, but it’s an unacceptable manoeuvre coming from a rider like him. 

• France WorldSBK Race (2) Results: Razgatlioglu wins as Rea takes out Bautista 
• Official: Takaaki Nakagami to remain with LCR Honda for 2023 MotoGP season

“For me, he showed he’s very fast, very brave, but he’s not a real champion because this kind of thing, a champion never does. 

“I have no interest in his apologies. He knows very well what happened…”

Despite their intense championship battle in 2019, there were no on-track incidents between Bautista and Rea, or certainly not to this degree. 

Much like Rea's title fight with Razgatlioglu last season, hard but fair racing was a continuous storyline from their battles three years ago. 

However, with the events of Magny-Cours having taken place, round eight of the year in Catalunya is sure to see more fireworks between all three title contenders.