English
Italiano
Alvaro Bautista tried to do what he could on Sunday at Misano. After his morning crash in the Superpole Race, the Spaniard took third place in the afternoon, climbing on the last available step of the podium.
While in the last two editions the world champion dominated the scene on the Riviera, this time the script turned out to be quite different, as Alvaro was called upon to play catch-up. At the end of the race, his words best captured the situation.
"It was not an easy weekend ," he began , "I lacked confidence and had to make more changes today than in the whole of last season. This morning unfortunately I crashed and started behind on the fourth row finishing third. Even if I had started from the front row I would not have gone further than third. So we have to figure out how to improve because our level is lower than last season while the competition has made progress."
Alvaro, where do you plan to start from?
"First of all we have to get to extract our maximum potential, looking for that confidence that allows me to stop the bike the way I like and then put it in the way I want. No need to waste time in thinking where Toprak and the BMW are stronger than us."
In the winter, FIM intervened by applying 6 kg of ballast. Do you think Toprak should now also be limited?
"I am not the FIM that sets the rules. The only thing I can do is my best with what I have, without asking to stop other riders unlike what happened with me in the past. In fact, I am not here asking to slow down other riders if we are slower than them because that would not be correct. Unfortunately, we have many problems to solve and we have to work."
Can you explain the crash in the morning?
"Unfortunately I had a lot of difficulty stopping the bike, especially in the corners with a lot of angle, in fact I kept losing the front. In the end I crashed and it was good that nothing happened, because I was also on the inside."
How much are these extra six kilograms affecting you at the moment?
"I can't do anything because this is the rule and it's better not to think about it. Besides, this is the bike and that's what I have to fight with regardless of whether it's heavier or not. My priority is to find a good set-up while from a mental point of view I prefer not to think that this rule is against me, but only to balance the Championship."
Regarding your future, do you already have any ideas or timelines to meet?
"At the moment I don't have any deadlines. After this weekend I will think about it and in my mind there are some priorities, the first one is to understand why I don't have the confidence I had a year ago. That is the only thing I think about, also because no one has asked me what I want to do. Before Donington I will talk, aware of the fact that I don't know how to catch up."
Iannone would like to get on your bike.
"I know that many people are waiting and I feel sorry for both him and the others. However, I want to take my time and be calm considering that Aruba is a family to me."
