Alvaro Bautista cleared for Aragon WorldSBK after “bad luck” at Most

A moment of “bad luck” is what caused Alvaro Bautista to miss the Czech WorldSBK races two weeks ago, he thinks, after being declared fit to ride in Aragon this weekend (29–31 May).

Bautista crashed in FP3 at Most and sustained ankle fractures, leaving him unfit for Superpole and all three races.

Less than two weeks later, though, the Barni Ducati rider is back at the track and has been passed fit to ride, although he will need to be reassessed after FP1.

Bautista says the crash in Most was “not really scary”, but also that he was not certain when he would be able to return.

“I feel, fortunately, much better than in Most,” said Alvaro Bautista, speaking to WorldSBK.com.

“But the crash in Most was not really scary, but just I had a bit of a bad luck because I kept my foot between the bike and the ground and then I had a big move from the foot out of my leg. 

“Fortunately, I had a really good surgery last week on Monday to fix some broken bones. I started already before the surgery the rehabilitation. 

“Sincerely, I didn’t have any expectation to when I come back because I knew that my foot was very big and I just worked [all] day a lot, just tried to recover as best and as soon as possible. 

“But in my mind it was not the goal to arrive here, just I wanted to recover well because at the end the health is more important than races. But day-by-day I saw big improvements.

“Last Thursday I had a visit with my doctor [who] did the surgery. We decided that why not try to race because my physical was improving a lot day-by-day, I was able to try. 

“Here I received the [positive fitness assessment] to try in FP1 and let’s see. As I said before, I don’t have any expectation for FP1 because for me the [most important thing] is the safety and I would like to try. 

“If I see or I feel that it is difficult for me, or it’s a risk for me or for the others for me to ride the bike, I will stop. 

“But if it’s [possible] to continue I will do, so let’s see what happens tomorrow. 

“I can say that I’m really happy to [ride] tomorrow, but also for my health that my feeling and my physical condition is improving a lot day-by-day. This is the most important.”

Aragon is a circuit that Bautista has found success at in the past – indeed, his last WorldSBK win came here in 2024, but the two-time champion is not optimistic about his performance potential this weekend given his physical condition.

“It’s true that this track I did really well in the past, and for sure a home round for us Spanish riders is very important,” said Bautista.

“We have the support of my family, my friends, maybe it’s an extra motivation for me. 

“But in any case I will be in a very special situation because I feel that even if I can continue the weekend I don’t think that I will be at my best performance, but let’s see. 

“If I can keep the weekend, I try to enjoy, and try to have fun with all the people around here.”