Alvaro Bautista finished his race for the Ducati Aruba team with a one-two, thanks to his second place in Race 2. So his stint as an official rider has ended, during a high-level weekend that's going to let him go on vacation with a peaceful state of mind, although not without some regret and a bit of bitterness.
"I did my best. In the first few laps, I was a passenger and tried to lose as little as possible. This is something that has often happened to me in the past, but now it's even worse. After eight, nine laps, I go back to being a rider, depending on the track. I think I did a very good race two, trying to achieve a good performance from right from the start, so I'd lose less later and, in fact, I reached the finish line with less of a gap from Bulega. In some stages, I was even faster than him," he said, as he took stock of his last few years.
"I'm proud of myself and my team.We never gave up, despite the situation of the last two seasons. Even when we had problems, we always tried to improve, and that makes me more proud than happy, especially today," he stressed.
Looking ahead towards 2026, and what he could do to prevent having the same problems like in the past two-year period, the Spanish rider admitted, without mincing words, "I have an idea and that is to remove the ballast rule and no longer be a passenger at the start of the race. That said, Barni is working hard from this point of view, but the most correct thing for the championship, in my opinion, would be to put all riders in the same condition. I personally don't agree with being penalized for your physique. I said, from the beginning, that this wasn't the best way to balance the forces in the field, so I think it's time to review the regulations and find a different solution by intervening, perhaps in a second phase, but at least allow everyone to start the championship at the same level. Even from a safety standpoint, it hasn't been an optimal measure, and we saw that clearly in Rea's accident yesterday. With more weight, the bike stops later. More, generally ,riding a heavier bike creates more inertia and increases the risk of falling. And, clearly, when you slide, you can run over others, as well. So I think the regulations should be changed."
When asked about a possible planned team strategy to stop Razgatlioglu, the 40-year-old rider replied, " No, we didn't plan anything like that. It was difficult that something would happen, like in the Superpole Race. It's true that anything can happen in the races, but Toprak needed only four points to win the title. Of course, if the opportunity had presented itself for Bulega, and I had been in the lead, maybe I would've been invited to let Nicolò pass, but it didn't happen."
Finally, on the factory Ducati team's possible regret for letting him go, in light of his performance, he commented, "My latest results aren't the result of a desire to prove others wrong. They're only for me and to confirm to myself that I can still be competitive. At Estoril, maybe I was a little further away here, but closer despite the difficulties on Friday. Ducati has the data and knows what my potential is and what I can do. In spite of my high level performance, the results were not in line."