Bautista: 'Rea struggling to push like Razgatlioglu'
Rea is in the midst of his longest win drought since joining Kawasaki in 2015, after failing to take victory in any of the three Portimao WorldSBK races.
A round that was seen as crucial to him getting back into the title fight, Rea finished behind Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu in all three races, which has led to the six-time champion dropping to 82 points behind Bautista in the WorldSBK standings.
Without a win in the last 18 races, Rea led the way in all three Portimao races before struggling as the races went on.
Having followed Razgatlioglu and Rea throughout all three races, Bautista picked up on the Kawasaki rider finding it difficult to stay with himself and Razgatlioglu.
Speaking about that and his weekend in general, Bautista said: "For sure, it has been three amazing races with a lot of fighting at the front. Yesterday [Saturday], I needed the last six laps of the race to get to Toprak and fight for victory.
"In the Superpole Race, I knew it was maybe difficult to beat Jonathan and Toprak because they were very fast. I think they were a bit better than us at this track with these conditions.
"This morning, I was very determined, and my plan was to stay with them because I can finish with them, that means I have the chance in the afternoon to fight for the victory. In the end, I was quite fast in the morning as well.
"I could be with them, especially with Toprak. He had a really incredible pace in the morning. In the afternoon, I had a better position on the grid. I made a normal start and I lost position to Jonathan, but I was there.
"When Jonathan was in front, Toprak was behind him just saving the tyre life. I think Jonathan was struggling a little bit more than Toprak to push. I decided to take the lead and increase the pace, make the others force their tyre.
"I’m happy because the last laps, even if Toprak tried to overtake me a couple of times, he was struggling more so in the last few laps he stayed away."
Tyre started to lock, says WorldSBK champion Razgatlioglu
As Bautista executed his tyre strategy to perfection in race two, Razgatlioglu began to suffer with front locking, something he had not experienced in the two races prior.
"In the afternoon, Alvaro improved and came back very strong again. It wasn’t easy to pass him in Race 2, but I kept fighting for the win. In the last three laps, the front tyre started to lock," added the reigning world champion.
"I said second place was enough. Every lap, I caught him, and, on the exit of the last corner, he got ahead again on the straight; his bike is very fast. We finished second and we take good points for the championship."
