Alvaro Bautista “lucky I didn’t crash” in Czech WorldSBK lap one contact
Alvaro Bautista says he was “lucky” to avoid a crash when he had contact on the opening lap of Czech WorldSBK Race 1.
The Czech WorldSBK presented immediate difficulties for Alvaro Bautista in Race 1, the Spanish rider getting into trouble at the first chicane on lap one.
Bautista started 10th, and being in the middle of the pack in the tight first chicane resulted in contact for the Spanish rider.
He got away relatively lightly, as both Michael van der Mark and Andrea Locatelli retired when they crashed as a result of the mid-corner stack-up.
“Here at Most, the first two corners are always tricky because we arrive together and it’s easy to have a situation like this,” Bautista explained, speaking WorldSBK.com.
“Today, I was lucky I didn’t crash, because I had to close the throttle a little bit as Vierge was on the inside.
“Then somebody hit me really hard from the back.
“When I nearly crashed to the right, I saw a bike without a rider! It hit me again and it put me back on track. I was a bit lucky not to crash.”
The contact left Bautista down in 16th, but he recovered to fifth by the finish.
“After that, Most isn’t an easy track to overtake because we have a lot of changes of direction, and a lot of flowing areas and it’s not easy,” Bautista said.
“I tried to keep calm and not be nervous; just finish my race and get my pace and confidence.”
The two-time World Superbike Champion added that he was struggling with his feeling on the bike.
“The first laps, I didn’t feel good,” he said. “I struggled a lot especially when I had to release the brake, because the bike felt like it would push me out and I was struggling a lot to turn in the corners.
“I nearly crashed a couple of times due to this because I lost the front.
“Lap after lap, it improved, and I got more confident. I started to pass other riders and, when I had some free track, I was able to push hard.
“When I arrived at other riders, it wasn’t easy to overtake.
“I think we are happy because the performance was good, and our pace was to fight for the podium. I’m happy with my feeling and the confidence on the bike.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
