Alvaro Bautista 3rd in Hungarian WorldSBK Race 1: “The bike is difficult to ride in first laps”
Alvaro Bautista has continued his complaints against the WorldSBK weight rules after finishing third in Hungary.

A third-place finish for Alvaro Bautista in Race 1 at the Hungarian WorldSBK was followed by further complaints from the Spanish rider about the minimum weight rules in the series.
Bautista struggled at the start of the race but got better in the second half, passing Andrea Locatelli for fourth, which became third after Sam Lowes crashed out of second.
He was then able to match the pace of the leading two, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega, but not able to close the gap on his teammate for second place as he was able to in Race 2 at Donington two weeks ago.
“It’s been a very tough race because the conditions have been too hot and this track, with a lot of braking points, is always very difficult,” Alvaro Bautista said, speaking to WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Hungary.
“You have to be very concentrated on the race and try to not make mistakes because on this kind of track it’s easy to make mistakes.
“I did a good start, in both starts, but in the first laps I was struggling, I was fighting with the bike because, for me, the first few laps, when the bike has a full tank, I cannot move the bike as I want so it’s like I’m a passenger. So, I was struggling.”
He added: “The bike, right now, is very difficult to ride in the first laps because with more weight I try to force but the bike makes what [it] wants so it’s like I’m a passenger.
“After six or seven laps I started to be me. It’s not easy, but, at the moment, it’s the situation we have and we try always to minimise the problem.”
Asked if he felt the temperatures made things more difficult at the start, Bautista reiterated that he feels the real issue is the weight.
“The conditions are for everybody: if it’s cold, it’s cold for everybody; if it’s hot, it’s hot for everybody,” he said.
“For me, the real problem is the weight. [...] All my years with the Superbike I struggled in the first laps, but it’s clear that last year and this year I struggle even more because I have more weight.
“So, after six or seven laps, it’s like the weight that the bike had in the past when there was not this rule.
“I think that’s the main problem, the conditions are for everybody so you have to try to adapt, try to understand how much you can push.”
In the second half of the race, Bautista’s pace improved and he was able to get onto the podium. He explained that he was trying to put pressure on Bulega to encourage a mistake from his teammate, who now sits second and nine points behind Razgatlioglu in the World Superbike title battle, to try to take second place.
“I tried to not lose too much gap with the front, then after six or seven laps I can start to push and lap-by-lap I started to feel more comfortable,” Bautista said.
“I can equal the pace of Nicolo [Bulega] and Toprak [Razgatlioglu] but it was not enough to catch them.
“In any case, I just tried to keep pushing and tried to force Nicolo to make a mistake – because in this track it’s easy, we saw in the practice – but he managed so well.
“So, in the end, another third place is nice, it’s good, because I think right now we are getting the maximum we have in the bike, but, for sure, we want more and we keep working to reduce that gap.”