Alvaro Bautista “satisfied” with “not easy” trio of Estoril WorldSBK podiums

For only the second time in 2025, Alvaro Bautista was on the podium in all three races at a WorldSBK round, this time at Estoril.

The previous occasion was back at the fourth round of the season in Cremona, and just as at the Italian Round the two-time World Superbike Champion was on the third step of the podium on all three occasions in Estoril.

Bautista’s pace in in the early laps of the races mandated defensive riding in the first half of all three races, but as usual his speed picked up as the tyres wore and the fuel load dropped.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider admitted the races were “not easy” but he was pleased with the results.

“I’m satisfied because, at the end, it’s been a really good weekend,” Alvaro Bautista said, speaking to WorldSBK.com after Race 2 in Estoril.

“We did third in all the important [sessions]: Superpole, Race 1, Superpole Race, and Race 2. 

“Not easy because, especially today, I had to defend a lot the position. I didn’t fight a lot, but I just had the pressure all the laps and I cannot relax. 

“I have to be very concentrated, very focused, and, at the end, it was the maximum we can achieve because Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and Nicolo [Bulega] were like three steps forward than the rest. 

“We were like fighting for the victory of the rest of the riders. I’m happy for that also.”

The three thirds Bautista picked up in Estoril also brought him up to third in the standings, ahead of Danilo Petrucci – who missed all three races through injury – and Andrea Locatelli by eight points.

“We got important points for the championship, now we are in third place in the classification,” Bautista said.

“It’s good because in the past many times that we were too close to the third position then something happened and I lost more points. 

“This time we were really concentrated, we didn’t make any mistakes. I’m happy for that.”

Still, with only eight points between himself and the two other riders in the frame for P3 in the standings, Bautista is aware that he still needs to have a strong Jerez round – where last year he scored only one point for ninth in the Superpole Race – to secure the bronze medal.

“It’s nothing clear for third place because when you have three races you can lose or you can gain a lot of points,” Bautista said.

“Just I will try to go there [Jerez], try to enjoy the weekend, enjoy with the family, the friends, the fans. 

“I remember last year I had many problems and I didn’t feel really strong there so let’s see how is my feeling this year, but for sure now we have to defend third place in the championship. 

“It’s not the same as if we have to catch them. 

“For sure, now it depends on ourselves, so we will try to do it perfect and let’s see if we can keep this position.”