Alvaro Bautista “not happy” with P6 at Misano WorldSBK: “I didn’t have any grip”

Factory Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista says he “didn’t have any grip” throughout the first WorldSBK race at this weekend’s Emilia-Romagna Round.

The Spanish rider, who qualified 11th, crossed the line seventh but was promoted to sixth after a post-race time penalty for Sam Lowes was applied.

A six-time World Superbike race winner at Misano, Bautista said he struggled with rear grip in the hot conditions of Race 1 when the official track temperature was recorded at 47C.

“Today, I didn’t have the best feeling on the bike in the race,” Alvaro Bautista told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Misano.

“It’s strange because when the temperature is high and the grip is maybe a bit lower I struggle a lot to have good grip from the tyres – especially from the rear.

“All the race, from the beginning to the end, I didn’t have any grip on the rear, entry and exit, so I just tried to manage.

“If you see my lap times, they are the same at the beginning as the end. Every time I tried to force or go faster, I went long or lost some time, so it was difficult to ride.”

Bautista added that, when grip was higher in the cooler morning conditions, he was able to be more competitive.

“I’m not happy because in the morning, when the track grip was a bit better, I was able to make good lap times and good pace, especially the pace,” he said.

“But in the heat I suffered more, I felt more inertia; it’s difficult to stop the bike, to make it turn; also with the grip, exiting from the corner, it just put me out.

“Not an easy race for me, but I managed to finish. I hope to find something that can help us in these conditions, with a lot of heat, and tomorrow be a bit more competitive.

“We were close to the podium, but I was too much on the limit, so in this way I was struggling a lot. That’s all. I hope tomorrow we will try to find something.

Continuing to explain his problems, Bautista reiterated that the issues are generated at the rear of the bike.

“Basically, the main problem I think is coming from the rear of the bike,” he said.

“I have a lot of problems to stop the bike in braking, and especially in the last metres of the entry the rear just slides away and pushes me out.

“If we can gain some rear grip, some contact grip at the rear, I think we can make a good step because I felt it in all kinds of corners, so if we can make an improvement in that area then we can improve in all corners.

“So, we will try. It’s not easy because, otherwise, I would make it before. But we will try something and see if tomorrow it will help me a little bit.”