Bautista after huge tankslapper: “Lucky that I could stop the bike”

Alvaro Bautista recovered from a huge tankslapper to go on and beat Toprak Razgatlioglu to victory in Race 1 of the Imola WorldSBK round.

Robert Jones

15 Jul 2023

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati WorldSBK Imola 2023

The reigning world champion made a good start to the race and appeared comfortable in third as Andrea Locatelli and Axel Bassani fought hard for the race lead.

But after a mistake from Bassani, and Locatelli struggling to hold off the chasing pack, Bautista made a quick decision to attack the Yamaha rider on the same lap that Razgatlioglu overtook him for the race lead.

From that point on, Bautista was clearly the fastest rider and began hounding the Turkish star before making a mistake on the approach to turn 14.

Bautista got all out of shape as the front of his Panigale V4 R produced a vicious headshake which allowed Jonathan Rea to pounce.

But Bautista responded immediately before completing a race-winning overtake with eight laps remaining.

"The race was really, really tough," Bautista told WorldSBK.com. "It was so hot and so slippery. At the beginning I didn’t feel a lot of confidence to push in the first laps and I saw many riders with better confidence than me.

"Step-by-step I was able to push more but behind Toprak it was difficult to stop the bike and turn - I missed some front grip.

"I thought that maybe it was because I didn’t have any fresh air and maybe the front is struggling a bit with the pressure.

"After the shaking where I lost the gap to Toprak and had some laps with fresh air, the front was improving so I tried to take the lead and that way the front would be better.

"It was difficult because I didn’t feel enough confidence to defend the position under braking with Toprak, but once I was leading I could push and felt much better with the front. It allowed me to push hard."

Discussing the section of the track that nearly ended his race, Bautista admitted that the bumps were the main issue as the circuit rises which can make the front of the bike go light.

"In that area it is too bumpy and the line you take makes you feel the bumps. In that lap I went over the bump and the bike started to move and shake.

"The problem was that after the shaking, I missed the level for the chicane and didn’t have any brakes.

"I had to use the lever a couple of times and was lucky that I could stop the bike. Lucky that it was just a big moment and without any consequences."