Four crashes in testing for Alvaro Bautista: “The feeling was, s**t, no?”
“I am happy, especially with the engine characteristics that we resolved here.”
Alvaro Bautista unusually crashed four times in the two-day Misano WorldSBK test.
Ultimately the reigning champion took advantage of a dry patch on an otherwise wet day to finish fourth-fastest on Friday, despite three falls.
Yet he insisted that he is content with the latest learnings from his Ducati Panigale V4 R ahead of the next round of the championship.
“The morning crash was strange,” Bautista said about Friday.
“I thought I was on SCX, but I was on SC0. The feeling was, s**t, no?
“So, maybe I forced it more than I had to, and I crashed.
“But then they told me that I was faster on the SC0!
“The second crash was at the last corner when it was wet. I lost the front passing over a patch.
“I didn’t expect it! Otherwise, not so bad!”
He later got sucked into the corner of Turn 14 and tumbled for the fourth time overall.
However, two weeks before the WSBK round at the same circuit, Bautista might have unlocked more potential from his Ducati.
“I prefer the feeling on the race tyre,” he said.
“I am happy, especially with the engine characteristics that we resolved here.”
He said about his setup: “I think the situation is the same. We have worked well on engine behaviour.
“We have not found anything for the setup, but I think what we have found in terms of the engine will help us a lot.”
Bautista is considering whether to ride on, or to retire in 2025.
“My priority is to think about the Misano race and to do our best,” he said. “I think after Misano I will take a decision.”
