Alvaro Bautista 's Round at the Aragon circuit ended with a double podium. The Aruba.it Racing - Ducati rider was able to make amends for Saturday's crash by grabbing two third places in Sunday's races. Yet he cannot say he is completely satisfied with how his weekend went.
"I'm happy on one side and not on the other: it's more for the pain of yesterday than the joy of today's. This weekend was going more or less well. I found something positive and felt more competitive. I set good times in Superpole and had good feelings. Then in yesterday's race I made a good start, but the first few laps are impossible for me: the bike has a lot of inertia and tends to push me out, so I have to force a lot on the tyres and the front only to not lose too much. Because I lose even doing the maximum. After 6 or 7 laps the situation starts to become more normal, but the tyres by that time are already finished. Yesterday I was catching the riders in front and when I got behind Petrucci I tried to prepare the exit of the corner to the long straight. I forced slightly more on the front and lost it. It's hard to accept and I was quite angry with myself yesterday - I felt I missed a good opportunity, because even with those problems we could have been fighting for the podium," he explained.
"Today I felt a little better, especially in the morning. In the first laps I struggled as usual, I lost a lot and then equaling the pace of the leaders was not enough - added the Spanish rider - In Race 2 it was more or less the same. Unlike yesterday, however, I did not try to force the tyres more. I kept calm and let the laps pass, to start pushing once I found the feeling. After a few laps, I passed the riders in front of me and made my own pace, but it wasn't enough. Riding like this is difficult especially in the first few laps, where I am a passenger. I'm not in the same condition as the others and it's not fair."
Asked by Toprak about making a mistake in the last two laps of Race 2, the Ducati man admitted, "I almost crashed in Turn 5 and lost half a second in the first sector."
Although not everything went as he would have liked in this Round at MotorLand, Alvaro was able to stay a little closer to the leaders. Just as predicted on the eve of the race.
"I didn't have expectations, but in light of Friday's sensations I thought I could close the gap. I did, and I think this performance was the best I could achieve in the situation I'm in," he acknowledged, "Today I had a front row seat to watch the battle between Bulega and Toprak, and I really enjoyed it. Toprak struggled a bit more on this track and in Estoril he will be a bit stronger, but I think the fight for the title will continue until the last race if no one makes mistakes. I hope to be very close to them, to see the battle on the track. If I can beat them even better, but I have big doubts about that."
As of today Alvaro has been joined by Marc Marquez in the club of the oldest active World Champions.
"I am the oldest active rider," he commented, "Marc was expected to win the title because he was comfortable on the bike and was the fastest. I am happy for him and I think he felt different emotions with this title. It also happened to me in 2022 and I think this time he did not feel happiness, but pride. It's not easy to come back and win after hard times, so he must be proud of this title."